The Door to Yomi
by Seldavia
Summary: Midna and Izanami demonstrate how Ganondorf's, Link's, and Zelda's actions and desires have shaped Hyrule over lifetimes. Where one story ends, another begins...such is the cycle of the Triforce. Sequel to Twilight Regent.
1. A Questionable Offer

Yomi, the Twilight Realm. A peaceful place, perpetually between darkness and light, where weary souls who had departed from the world of the living came to rest, and wait for re-entry into their next life.

The residents of this world didn't eat, though they did sometimes sleep, especially those whose last experiences had been difficult on their souls. Some slept for a thousand years; others so relished the taste of life that they returned as soon as they arrived.

Leading the souls between the two worlds were the shinigami(1), creatures nearly as old as Izanami herself. They were, in their true state, formless and shapeless; to earn the trust of the frightened, newly dead, they could change their shape to appear as a mother, a brother, a dear friend. When not on duty, they often appeared in a shape of their own choosing.

Although most of the wandering souls were free to move about as they wished, there were some that the local regents believed were too dangerous to be allowed among the others, or even to be reborn again. These were kept in prisons, one belonging to each region, and ranged from pleasant – but confined – homes, to dark dungeons devoid of any light, sound, or smell.

It was in the bottom of the deepest, darkest dungeon, in the section ruled by the Twilight Princess Midna, that an angry soul railed against his invisible bindings. His cell was darker than the caves where eyeless fish dwell, quieter than the inside of a coffin buried in a graveyard, and bereft of any breath of air that could carry with it the slightest scent. The only things that told Ganondorf he was not floating suspended in time were the walls that kept him moving around more than fifteen feet square.

At first he had pounded against the walls, for ageless hours, at first thinking that his feeling no pain had to mean he could bring them down eventually; but instead, it drove him more insane, because even pain would have given him something on which to focus. The everlasting nothingness tore at his mind and soul, and threatened to turn him into little more than a gibbering shadow.

But he struggled against the madness, for even as he cursed the names of the three who had led to his imprisonment, memories of his former lives began floating back into his mind. Clear and colorful, the images called to his sharp mind to review past mistakes, relive past successes. The shouts and screams died down, and he sat on the floor of his cell as if in meditation, his chin resting on one fist. He played the scenarios over and over in his mind, as if watching stage after stage of a play in which the actors never tired.

Now with the madness at bay, he was able to reflect upon his situation. _How strange,_ he wondered to himself. _In the hallway of tapestries, Zelda said that these memories were contained within the Triforce. I no longer have its power; so how can I remember them? Could it be she was wrong? _

_Can I find a way out of here that even Midna does not know?_

He sat for an immeasurable amount of time like this, not tiring, never feeling hunger, periodically driving back the black madness as it attempted to creep back into his mind.

Then – he could not tell if he had been there for hours or years – he felt the air grow tight around him, as if admitting the presence of something that had not been there before. And then, a voice other than his own spoke to him. "Greetings, Ganondorf Dragmire of Hyrule."

"Who's there?" Ganondorf demanded, wondering if the madness had bypassed his defences. He could see nothing in that place, and yet an image formed itself in his mind of the speaker.

The stranger wore flowing black robes, beautifully woven, and silver gauntlets, with supple leather boots on its feet. But on stacked vertebrae was a faceless, eyeless skull, which spoke without moving its jaw.

"I am Onima," the stranger said. "I am a shinigami, a medium between the light and the twilight."

"Never heard of one," Ganondorf snapped.

"You were, as I recall, sent here directly by the Twilight Princess herself, rather than being escorted by one of us…so I'm not surprised." The hollow voice, strangely devoid of any emotion, sounded like a recording of a forgotten, long-dead actor.

Ganondorf cursed Midna's name, and threw in a few more descriptive oaths as well. "What do you want, Onima?" he demanded. "Has that demon princess brought you to show me another way to suffer?"

"No," it replied. "I came here of my own will." Ganondorf felt it bend down, and bring its cold bony head close to him. "I came to ask you if you would like to return to the world of the living."

With a snort, Ganondorf demanded, "What kind of fool do you think I am? If you are in the service of the demon princess, you must know I've been sentenced to stay here until the universe turns to dust!"

"The Twilight Princess does not know of my meeting with you."

"Oh really. So, we're just going to waltz on out of here, eh? You want to take a risk disobeying your ruler's orders? What's in it for you?"

"My reasons are my own," Onima stated flatly. "You will find out more in time. If you are to come with me, you would have to do exactly as I told you."

"Forget it. I'm no one's slave."

"You prefer to stay here?" It was such a simple question, yet the suggestion rang with absurdity.

"No," Ganondorf answered immediately, suddenly terrified that his slim chance would slip through his fingers. "Every second here is torture. Take me back to the world of the living!"

"Very well," Onima replied, "But before we go, I must inform you…in order to ensure that we do not attract Midna's attention, we must replace your soul with another's. I have already chosen one for you…"

(1)Yes, I know many people have objections to using Japanese words when the characters don't speak Japanese. But the English word (taken from Greek) for a being that moves between the world of the living and the dead is "psychopomp". I think you can see why I chose not to use it. Also, for fellow _Bleach _fans…Onima is not a Soul Reaper, though he fulfills a similar function. The word "shinigami", which is translated as "Soul Reaper" in _Bleach_, is actually most accurately translated as "The Western interpretation of Death". In traditional Japanese mythology, Death is an event, not a person.

-&-

The nightmares were less frequent, now that her bond to the Triforce had been severed. But that did not make them any less vivid, her mind seeming to take sadistic pleasure in reliving her most horrible experiences.

Zelda's scream reverberated in her ears as she watched Ganondorf plunge his sword into the chest of the young hero. He jerked it out and stood back, admiring the handiwork of his death blow.

As Link fell to his knees, Zelda ran to his side. She cradled his head in her arms as he struggled to speak one last time. "I'm sorry," he said simply, his voice thick. "I tried…as hard as I could…"

It was not the words or his wounds that hurt her the most. It was the look in his eyes, knowing full well he had failed and all the implications it carried for her, for Hyrule.

It was the knowledge that she could not tell him the truth, but rather be forced to let him believe that he would die leaving her and her people to disaster.

After his eyes closed and he drew his last shuddering breath, she spoke softly so Ganondorf could not hear her. "I'm sorry…that I could not give you solace in your final hour. But we will try again…I will start the cycle again…and perhaps…it will end differently this time…"

"Come, Princess!" Ganondorf called from the throne. "A new era has begun! This kingdom is mine and I shall reshape it in my image with you by my side, a privilege I have rightfully won with my sword and the blessings of the gods." He flourished a bottle of wine and two glasses, normally for visiting dignitaries, which Zelda had replaced for a very specific purpose. "Come have a drink with me!"

Zelda lay the young man's head respectfully down on the marble floor and placed his hands over his chest. She walked up the dais like a zombie, taking the wine glass Ganondorf offered with his Cheshire cat smile.

"I'm sorry, my dear," Ganondorf said to Zelda after a gulp of wine, "I know you were fond of that young man. But he was too weak, as you can plainly see."

Zelda said nothing, sipping her wine sparingly, not wanting to give anything away.

Ganondorf drained his glass and poured another. "You know, once the Triforce is made whole again, the first thing I'm going to do is…" He took another drink. "Is…"

Suddenly his wine glass shattered on the ground. He clutched at his throat, gasping for air, at first confused, and then stared accusingly at Zelda.

She gave him a thin, grim smile, and held up her glass as if in a toast. "See you in the next life," she told him, and drained it.

-&-

She awoke gasping for air, as if the poison really had entered her body again. It was a few moments before she realized that she was in her own bedroom, bright sunlight streaming through the windows.

"Are you all right?" the young handmaiden asked, running to her side.

"Yes, May, I'm fine," Zelda assured her. "Just a nightmare…"

May frowned at her. "You've had nightmares every night for the past week. Is something troubling you?"

"Nothing in particular," Zelda said. "It's not uncommon…it's a stressful job, being a ruler," she added with a wan smile. "Can you tell me what the agenda is for today?"

"Well, the Gorons are here about the tribute you requested…"

"Sounds normal…"

"The Zora prince sent an emissary stating they require assistance because of the drought…"

"Yes, I thought they might…"

"Oh, and Link has returned from his campaign in the western lands. He might be here as early as lunchtime."

The first real smile in several days crossed her lips. "That's good, I was hoping he might."

As Zelda began to dress, May timidly attempted to bring up something she'd wanted to ask for a while. "Your Highness…may I ask…?"

"Yes?"

"You're…fond of Link, aren't you?"

"Yes…aren't we all?"

May twisted the fabric of her dress ribbon. "Well, I thought…he would make an excellent choice…if you decided to…"

"May." The handmaiden immediately stopped upon hearing the princess' tone. "He knows full well that route is open to him."

"He…he does? Then he hasn't shown any interest in…"

"May." Zelda turned to face the handmaiden. "Is it your business to comment on affairs of state?"

"No…no, your Highness! I wasn't commenting on that, it was something else…"

"Unfortunately," Zelda said as she smoothed down the few wrinkles in her dress, "both he and I have to think of it that way."

She left May and began walking down the hallway to the opulent dining room, recently repaired. The guard saluted her as she walked past, and she nodded to each out of habit, but her mind was elsewhere.

_May…I have no doubt that speculative gossip has surrounded us two ever since the shattering of the Triforce. I understand what you are asking, and why. But my true answer, my true motives, can only be understood by another who has served as a vessel of the goddesses, another who has lived multiple lives, of which there is only one…_

As the servants brought in breakfast for her and the nobles, she watched both speak with one another. A nobleman offered to fill the glass of a woman he fancied; a servant girl watched another young noble with hungry eyes; a page the girl's own age attempted to muster up the courage to speak to her.

Zelda had watched these scenes over and over, countless times. Her people were born, grew up, lived and loved, and died. She did not. For centuries, her existence had irrevocably been tied to Hyrule's. It made her neither happy nor sad, but it was apparent that her experiences were much broader than anyone else's, like a traveler who always returned home to find nothing had changed even years on.

That, certainly, she did have in common with Link, in more ways than one.

-&-

Link ticked people off on his fingers. "Well, Rusl has been teaching Colin the swordsman's art, he's been getting really good at it…I keep asking Ilia to travel with me, but she only came to Hyrule once, keeps saying her home is in Ordon…and you know about Malo, or at least you should, given the craze his shop has created…"

Zelda laughed. "Well, I haven't much time to wander around the town, but much of his influence has leaked up in here. Tell me, how did your visit with the warriors of the far southeast go?"

Link launched into a long narrative. "…and there were giant statues carved out of stone, bigger than anything we have here, tall as the castle, even! Once we got into the dining hall, they served me something made from some local plant, I forget what it was, but it tasted more like candy…"

Link and Zelda walked side by side in the castle garden, shielded from prying eyes by the high walls. "It was dinner and a show, there were a bunch of gymnasts and contortionists, you should have seen it!"

She smiled. "I wish I could have…it sounds better than any fairy tale."

He stopped and faced her. "Why don't you? Do you really think Hyrule will fall apart if you're gone for a short period of time? I mean, it's not like we have to worry about Ganondorf anymore…"

"There are other things besides Ganondorf," she replied. "All the things that a normal kingdom has to deal with…droughts, unsatisfied inhabitants, criminals, relationships with the other kingdoms…"

Link sighed. "But you've been stuck here for years…_thousands_ of years." He stopped and folded his hands at the back of his head, looking upward. "Do you remember, in one of our past lives, we traveled as brother and sister? Wasn't that fun?"

"Yes…but there were many things that were different back then."

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Zelda…you really should get out and see a bit of the world, at least once. We'll only live so long. Once we return to Yomi…"

He left the statement unsaid, but she knew all too well what he meant. _Once we return to Yomi, if we choose to be born again…we won't remember each other…_

Zelda knew that he would not want to languish in Yomi, that he would be eager to go back to the world of the living. She would have to let him go. It was her fault he had suffered so many times in their thousand past lives. His will to live, to see everything life offered, was far too strong to hold him back.

"Do you remember," she said slowly, not wanting to ruin their walk with talk of sadness, "do you remember any of the times you lost your fight with Ganondorf?"

Link screwed up his face in concentration. "Not really," he said at last. "It was more vivid before the Triforce shattered."

She looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry…I wanted to tell you that we had another chance, that it wasn't all for nothing…" Tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

He put his arm around her shoulder. "Don't be upset! Like I said, I hardly remember, so it's not worth crying over. Besides…remembering that, it was one of the things that made me wonder what was going on, made me realize that we were having our strings pulled by the goddesses. So, in the end, it served a good purpose." He turned to face her and smiled, hoping she would do the same.

"Oh, I almost forgot." He dug into his pockets and produced a small, exquisitely carved figure that appeared to be of Zelda herself. "An artisan in the town I visited made this for me. I told him what you looked like, but I'm not sure if he got it right…"

He handed it to her as if it were nothing, a little bauble he had picked up on his way out. But she could see his expression, anxious and eager to please. The carving itself was as accurate as a mirror image, and she knew it had to be as much from his memory as her as the skill of the carver.

"It's beautiful," she said, and meant it, wondering just what destiny lay in store for them, after so many lifetimes.

-&-

The next dawn found Link upon Epona, embarking upon yet another voyage beyond Hyrule's borders as envoy. He looked eagerly around him for signs of a new adventure, a new civilization, feeling himself surrounded in a cloud of euphoria.

He had never forgotten that it was on horseback that he had begun to question the strange nightmares he'd had, before he realized what they meant. There were few monsters to avoid now, though the wild lands between the countries' borders still held many dangers. Few, of course, could seriously threaten an experienced adventurer.

Zelda's reserve annoyed him at times. He knew she was capable as he was, but for some reason she chose not to follow. _Is she afraid of something? Is she just so used to playing the role of the dutiful, tragic ruler that she can't do anything else?_

He was determined, this time, to find something to shake her out of it. Some civilization, some scenery, some adventure so incredible that she would _have_ to join him. After all, she had done it in the past…

As he rode, he could see someone walking up on the path in front of him. He slowed Epona to a walk, and shouted a greeting to the fellow traveler.

As the man turned around, Link drew Epona up short. The stranger was wearing black robes and silver gauntlets…and had a skull for a head. Link grasped the hilt of his sword.

The stranger turned around, supremely unconcerned. "I see you have finally arrived," he said in a cold, indifferent voice that chilled Link's spine.

Link drew his sword, and spurred Epona forward.

-&-

"Of course I have no objections to your people selling hot springwater in the market," Zelda told the Goron representative. "Who told you that?"

"One of the soldiers, your Highness."

Zelda sighed. "Go to the head guard; he will have you pick the person out. We'll be sure to let him know not to harass you in the future."

The Goron bowed, and left.

"What's next?" Zelda turned to her scribe.

"One of the noblemen wishes to see you about his accommodations, Princess."

She touched her hand to her temple. "That'll be Averring. All right, bring him in…"

One of the soldiers burst into the throne room. "Your Highness!" he called. "Forgive me…but Link has returned prematurely, and he is wounded!"

"What?" Recovering, she ordered, "Bring him to the healer's wing."

Once inside the small sickroom, Zelda could see that Link was patched up in several places, his head wrapped in a bloody bandage and his clothes torn, but he didn't look gravely injured. His eyes lit up when she entered the room, and he gave her a pale smile.

"Are you all right?" she asked as she came to the side of the bed, and signaled for the others around them to leave.

"I'm fine." He waved his bandaged arm, grimacing slightly, then smiled. "But…there's something I need to ask you…"

"What is it?"

"Being out there today…I got into a fight and won, but I came so close to losing…I would have gone on to Yomi, without you…"

She nodded, feeling herself grow cold, acknowledging that she too carried this hidden fear.

He took her hand. "There will be plenty of places to explore in the next life. For the remainder of this one…with the time I have left…I want to stay with you."

She blinked, not entirely understanding his meaning. "Are you sure? I still don't plan on venturing far from the castle…we both still have a lot of time left in this life…"

He smiled, and squeezed her hand. "There will be other lifetimes for me to do that. A thousand years…and we still don't know each other all that well…we have to make the most of the time that we have, don't we?"

"Yes…"

He touched her face and leaned forward. For a moment Zelda held back. _Strange_, she thought to herself. _Was his battle that traumatic? He seems much more forward than usual…_

After just a brief moment, Zelda allowed herself her first kiss.

-&-

It was dark, impossibly dark. No sound, no smell, no grass or stone or any kind of fabric he could touch. As Link slowly gained consciousness, he tried to sense where he was, and found he could not.

"What…did…did I die?" He groped in the dark. "Midna! Midna, are you there? Is this the Twilight Realm? Somebody answer me!"


	2. Shinigami's Inheritance

Ganondorf shut his eyes against the piercing sunlight, rolling over in the soft bed. Just as he was beginning to fall asleep again, he was awakened by a knock at the door.

"Forgive me for waking you," a page said as he opened the door and stood in the doorway. "But breakfast will be served soon, and Her Highness requested your presence."

"Unh…of course." Still half-awake, he then shoved the blankets to the side and stumbled into the washroom, where an already-filled washbasin stood. He dunked his hands in the water and splashed it on his face, then cracked his eyes open to gaze blearily into the mirror.

"_Yaaaaaaahhhhh!_"

Instantly the page was at his side. "Is something wrong, Mr. Link?"

"No!" Ganondorf recovered quickly. "Just half-asleep…thought I saw…uh…something scary…"

The page gave him a perturbed look, then said, "Well, if you need anything, don't hesitate to call," and departed.

After hearing the door shut Ganondorf finally exhaled in relief. _That insane shinigami…of all the bodies to put me in_…

He still couldn't get used to the young Hylian's face staring back at him from the mirror. He was still adjusting to the body in general. It was so much lighter than his own. When he had tried to mount Link's horse, the blasted creature had bucked him off, and he had flown several feet. It wasn't a battle that gave him those injuries.

He shivered at the memory. Link hadn't seen him in spirit form. He had watched as Onima walked calmly up to Link, and before the boy could even swing his sword, he had fallen to the ground. Whatever Onima had done, he had done so fast or so subtly that Ganondorf had not been able to see. He never saw Link's spirit, and assumed that Onima had sent him to Yomi.

Then Onima had instructed him to get into the prone body on the ground. Easier said than done. He had felt like he was putting on a pinchy, ill-fitting suit. He was a little more used to it now - he could move around normally if he didn't think too much about it – but every once in a while he forgot how drastically his appearance had changed.

_Still_, he thought as he manipulated Link's face into a series of stupid expressions, _I can't argue with the results…wonderful accommodations, a kiss from the Princess…if I didn't look and feel so ridiculous I might actually think about staying this way…_

Of course, he knew he would not be able to pull it off for long. Playing the role of the polite, calm, generous hero was about as difficult for him as ballet was for an elephant.

Once he had washed up and dressed, he marched off to the dining room, where he had been given a seat of honor next to Zelda herself.

He had just leaned over to her to say something when the man next to him tapped him on the shoulder. "I say, old boy, how are the injuries?"

It was the poofiest-looking man Ganondorf had ever seen. Whoever this guy was, he wasn't a warrior. "Much better," Ganondorf replied, with what he hoped was an ingratiating smile, and turned back to Zelda.

"I've been dying to know, what are the Western Mallivans like?" the man persisted.

"The what?"

"You know…the people you met when you traveled two weeks ago."

"Um…yes…they were…very interesting. Er, why don't we discuss this later? I can give you all the details then."

Shad's eyes lit up. "Wonderful! I'll bring my papers and take dictation."

Ganondorf turned back to Zelda, but she was engrossed in conversation with someone to her left.

"I say, what do you think about the…"

"Oh will you put a cork in it!" Ganondorf snapped. The entire table stopped talking and turned to look at him. Shad looked completely devastated.

"Er…sorry," Ganondorf offered, painfully aware of how close he was to blowing his cover. "I still have a great deal of pain in my…leg…it's making me snappish…"

The rest of the table seemed to accept this, and went back to eating and talking.

Finally Zelda turned to him. "If you're still not feeling well, would you like to join me outside after breakfast?"

"Of course. I'd like that very much."

-&-

The first thing that struck his eye was the brightness and the variance of color in the gardens. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, relishing the scent of evergreen and roses. Ganondorf didn't much like flowers, or plants in general, but after the dark nothing of Yomi, his senses celebrated the newfound stimulation and lifted his mood.

Zelda took his hand. "Link, you've been acting a little strange lately. What happened after you left? You haven't spoken of it since you returned."

_I still haven't come up with a good explanation for this…_ "I'd rather not talk about it yet," he evaded.

She smiled and squeezed his hand. "Well, when you feel you can, let me know. After all," she added with a hint of sadness, "I've also seen many things in my lifetimes that are better left unsaid…except to another vessel of the Triforce."

Ganondorf turned to her, surprised. "Do you remember much of your past lives? I don't."

Zelda released his hand and turned away, looking at the clouds drifting over the horizon. "As the keeper of the Triforce of Wisdom, I had to know more than you and Ganondorf about the endless cycle. And so the memories burned themselves deeper in my mind."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, completely genuine. _I certainly can think of a lot of things I'd rather not remember…_

"Yes, well…" she turned back to him, and tried to smile. "That's all over…we should make the most of today, shouldn't we?"

Ganondorf looked out over the fields, and back at the castle, drinking deeply of the air that smelled of a thousand lives, human, plant, and animal. His senses heightened, his eyes and mind lingered on the magnificent marble pillars of the castle, the fragile petals of the roses, the frayed clouds that swept the sky like mares' tails.

"Yes," he said slowly. "Yes indeed."

-&-

"Midna!"

Link had called her name a hundred times, and still she did not come. Perhaps he was not in Yomi at all. But if not, where was he? Was the skull-faced man holding him prisoner? If so, for what purpose?

Link crouched in the little cell, groping around and concentrating on the direction where he walked, one hand in front of him. After a nauseatingly slow period of time, he was able to establish that his little cell was roughly fifteen feet square. If he concentrated, he could feel the walls. Otherwise, it was as if he were suspended in time and space. As far as he could tell, there was no door.

He tried to remember having been in a similar position, and strangely, he got perfectly clear flashbacks of his past lives. Unlike the last time, he could control them, and knew that they were his.

_How is this possible? Did I get connected to the Triforce somehow? I remember it breaking into millions of pieces…_

He had no sword, no equipment of any kind, though he certainly had left Hyrule with enough gear. He could understand why Onima would have taken his sword, but he couldn't figure out what the skull-faced man thought he would do with the little goat carving Ilia had given him as a good-luck charm.

Link paced in his little prison, trying to make sense of what was happening and desperately searching for a way out of it.

-&-

"Your plan is stupid." Ganondorf did not hold back in speaking to the shinigami in the mirror. "That's the most clichéd thing I've ever heard."

Onima's image replaced Ganondorf's reflection in the floor-length mirror of the guest room. "It's standard practice in many kingdoms," Onima explained with the patience that only an immortal could have. "Marry the princess, kill her, and become King."

"What's to stop the people from rioting? They like her. There'll be a revolution. The whole kingdom will come for my head."

"Who is going to raise their sword against the Hero of Hyrule?"

Ganondorf crossed his arms. "I still can't believe that you couldn't think up anything better than this."

Onima paused, and then the slightest bit of sarcasm crept into his dead voice. "Perhaps you have become attached to this pawn?"

"Absolutely not."

"Well then, kill her now."

"You idiot," Ganondorf exploded. "That just completely reduces your already stupid plan to nothing. Why would I do that?"

Somehow, Onima smiled without lips. "Because she's standing right behind you."

Ganondorf whirled round to see Zelda standing, horrified, in the doorway to the guest room. She turned and fled.

"You fool!" Ganondorf blasted the shinigami. "Why didn't you warn me?!"

"You had better hurry," Onima advised calmly. "Once the princess alerts her guard that you're not really Link, it will be several thousand to one…"

Ganondorf hurled a sulfurous oath at the skull-faced man and punched the mirror, shattering it. He snatched up a sword standing at the side of a suit of armor and bolted out the door in pursuit of the Princess.

-&-

_A shinigami!_

The terror that lanced through her upon that revelation fueled her flight through the halls, her guard turning toward her with puzzlement as she flashed past without a word.

She had to get the shinigami's familiar away from the castle. She had to try and fight it, if possible. Once again, she was alone in her fight, terribly alone.

_How did that creature, whatever it is, make itself look so much like Link? And where is the real Link?_

She retrieved her personal sword from her own room and flew down the stairwell to the back side of the castle. As she ran, she could hear light, quick footsteps growing louder and louder behind her.

She turned to a window and sheathed her sword, then pulled herself through, grasping the creeping ivy and trying to gain a foothold so she could climb down. As she grasped the vines to get a better grip, a hand shot out and snatched her wrist.

She felt herself shoved out away from the wall, and hung on to the ivy with her other hand for dear life. The false Link's face appeared in the window with an insane grin. "Well, if you won't go down, then come up!" With a mighty wrench he pulled her back into the tower, throwing her against the wall.

Zelda raised her sword just in time, and felt her hands vibrate with the force of the blow. As her attacker pulled back for a second strike, she stabbed forward. He dodged easily.

The two clashed swords, over and over. "You're not half bad!" the false Link told her with a laugh. "If I'd known what a skilled swordswoman you are, I would have asked you to be my sparring partner years ago!"

"Who are you?" she demanded, parrying another thrust. "What have you done with Link?"

"Hah!" He made a broad sweep with his sword. "You haven't figured it out yet? You've known me for so many centuries, and you still don't recognize my fighting style?"

"Ganondorf?" She was so shocked that she didn't dodge quite in time, and his sword nicked her arm. "But how did a shinigami…"

"Onima's not fond of Midna, it seems," Ganondorf said conversationally, still swinging. "I guess that's one thing we have in common."

"You'll regret making a deal with a shinigami," she taunted fiercely. "He likely has not told you all of the terms."

"Well, whatever they are, it must be better than what I had." As they crossed swords once more, he leaned in close. "Yomi is not a nice place, not where I was, anyway," he hissed. "I certainly don't intend on going back there…how nice of Onima to have Link take my place."

She blinked, horrified. "What?"

Ganondorf shoved her back so hard she stumbled down several stairs and slammed into the wall. Laughing, he raised his sword. "Your little friend is dead for good, Zelda. Of course, I will be more than happy to let you join him…" He readied another thrust.

Suddenly Zelda saw red. She leaped forward and swung her sword in a wide arc, hitting Ganondorf sharply on the wrist. She shoved him to the ground and held the sword blade to his neck.

Her hand shook. She tightened her hand on the hilt, and just as she was about to run the blade through, the fallen fighter's face contracted in fear. "Zelda, please, don't, it's me!"

"Link?" She paused, just for a moment.

Suddenly she was thrown violently backward and tumbled down the stairs, her sword skittering away behind her. Ganondorf stood, laughing uproariously. "You know your little friend is dead, and yet you can't kill me, because I look and sound like him! How pathetic." He gripped his sword as Zelda struggled to her feet.

Zelda turned and fled down the stairway, Ganondorf in hot pursuit. She burst into the armory and bolted the door behind her. She could hear Ganondorf pounding on the door. "It's just a matter of time!" he shouted. "I can break down this door…or blow it up!"

Trembling, feeling sick, Zelda pondered over what to do next. Her mind raced. She was no longer connected to the Triforce, so she could no longer perform even the simplest magic. If she killed herself again it would not restart the cycle; there was no cycle to restart. She did not know why the shinigami had sent Ganondorf after her. Even if she did blow Ganondorf up with the bombs in this room, doubtless the shinigami would come after her himself.

The pounding increased, the door beginning to splinter. There was one final answer, one thing that the sages had told her never, ever to do, unless there was absolutely no other way. She was not sure it would even work, now that she and Link had broken the goddesses' prized creation.

The door blasted apart. Grinning from ear to ear, Ganondorf entered the room. Zelda fell to her knees and bowed her head in prayer.

"Begging won't help," Ganondorf grunted, raising his sword.

Zelda chanted quickly:

_Goddesses of Hyrule, hear my prayer!_

_The bloodline of Izanagi is in danger!_

_Your creation faces negation!_

_Hear me now, and come to my aid!_

Ganondorf brought his sword down in a final blow. The sound of metal on metal rang in his ears, and he drew in his breath.

A woman in resplendent golden armor kneeled before him, an iridescent sword in her hand. With no effort at all, she stood and flicked her wrist, so that Ganondorf's sword rang out of his hand.

Ganondorf took a hurried step back. The woman's face and build looked vaguely like the statues of the Goddesses in the throne room, but her armor was of an exquisite, archaic type that he had never seen. She looked at him with blazing eyes, and as he stood frozen, raised her sword.

Suddenly, Onima appeared, and placed his hand on Ganondorf's shoulder. "Greetings, sisters," he said calmly.

"Greetings, brother." The woman spoke in three octaves, and lowered her sword. "Is this your doing? For what purpose?"

"It is a very simple purpose." Quicker than thinking, Onima drew a barely perceptible sword that flashed once. Link's body fell to the ground.

"I have come to claim what is rightfully mine."


	3. Sentient Beings

Link paused in his pacing, feeling the air around him shift and coalesce. Before he could even think about what this meant, he was suddenly no longer alone.

He raised his hands in a defensive position. "Who's there?" he called out.

The newcomer did not answer for several moments, then grumbled, "Blasted shinigami. I didn't believe he could make things worse, but he did."

"_You!_" Link launched himself forward, thrusting his fist in the direction of the voice and feeling an intense satisfaction as it connected with something.

It was short-lived. "Quit that!" commanded the voice, seizing him by the shoulders and throwing him against the wall.

Link stood immediately. "Didn't hurt, did it?" Ganondorf's voice hung in the little prison like dense fog. "The reason is quite simple. You can't hurt someone who's already dead."

"Wh-what?" Link froze, horrified, as Ganondorf's image formed itself in his mind.

"You're in Yomi, in the prison cell I was in before that crazy death-traveler picked me up. He's got a sick sense of humor, that one."

"Yomi?" Link shook his head in disbelief. "I've been calling Midna since I got here. We can't be in Yomi…unless…something happened to her…" He frowned at Ganondorf. "Did you say someone let you out of here? What have you been doing?!"

Puzzled, Ganondorf said more to himself than Link, "Midna hasn't noticed you're here? That's strange…these walls are thick, but you'd think she'd have noticed your presence…"

"What have you done with Midna? What have you been doing in Hyrule?"

"Second question first: Not much, though not for lack of trying. Zelda knows how to defend herself."

"Wh-what?! What did you do to…"

"As for your first question, that may be a little more apt," he mused as Link spluttered and cursed. "I don't think that shinigami was after Midna. The last thing I remember…"

"What's shinigami? Explain yourself!"

"Calm yourself," Ganondorf told him, his matter-of-fact manner just adding fuel to the fire. "I have to remember exactly what happened first. What exactly was the point of the whole exercise? The shinigami – someone working under Midna, someone who guides the souls of the dead to Yomi – had me take your place once he pulled your soul out of your body…"

"_What?!_"

"Listen, the story's just going to get longer if you keep interrupting, and something tells me we don't have a lot of time. Let's see…" he muttered as Link boiled like a kettle, "He wanted me to get rid of Zelda, which was a stupid plan and I told him so, but she found out what I was doing, so I had to go after her anyway…"

Link seethed where he stood, painfully aware that nothing he did could pull any information out of his nemesis.

"…just as I was about to deal the final blow, she chanted something, and then…" He screwed up his face in concentration, genuinely unsure if was remembering correctly.

"_Will you get on with it!_"

"Stop that, you're breaking my concentration. Now…it sounds strange…but I believe she summoned the Goddesses themselves, somehow. And that…I think that is what Onima wanted. But why?"

Link's temper cooled slightly. "You don't know?"

"No. That's the last thing I remember before he sent me here."

Link finally exploded. "Then what good is any of this?!" Unable to injure Ganondorf in any way, he began pulling at his own hair, but it offered him no solace.

After mulling it over for a few moments, Ganondorf turned to Link. "Well, I suppose Midna might be able to tell us what it all means, as Onima is supposed to be serving under her. Why haven't you been able to contact her?"

"I've been screaming her name for…how long has it been?"

"Days."

"I've been screaming her name for days, and she hasn't answered."

Ganondorf looked around the small cell. "That doesn't make sense…this was built to keep me in, but I don't know why she's not aware you're here. Call for her."

Link scowled. "I don't take orders from-"

"Oh, for Hyrule's sake, just do it!"

Shooting Ganondorf a look of pure venom, Link turned and began calling Midna again. After the fourth try Ganondorf interrupted. "No, no, no. You're acting like you still have to depend on your lungs. Use your spiritual force!"

Link stared. "My what?"

"Oh…you never really had much of a grasp of magic, did you? You just used artifacts…if you'd had a little training you'd know how to manipulate your spiritual energy, your life force."

"I'm not a sorcerer, like you," Link snapped. "How am I supposed to do that?"

Ganondorf frowned in disapproval. "You _must_ have, at some point, or you wouldn't have attracted the Triforce to you, and you wouldn't have been able to defeat me so many times. Maybe it was unconscious. Here, I'll show you."

Ganondorf stood squarely in the middle of the room. Link felt a strange sensation, as if Ganondorf had somehow become magnetically charged and was drawing in tiny bits of matter to him. Once the air around them tingled, like as just before a lightning strike, Ganondorf emitted a deep bellow and Link felt as if he were engulfed in a hurricane. Then, suddenly, it stopped.

"Your turn. Let your soul rage forth!"

Link stood squarely at the side of the room. Nothing happened.

"You dolt," Ganondorf admonished him. "You're not even trying."

Link snarled back at him. Ganondorf felt the tiniest spark. Smiling, he decided to try a different tack. "You pathetic whelp," he snapped. "I can't believe I lost so many times to such a weakling. You just depended on artifacts. If I had given myself a paper cut on the Master Sword, it would have done just as much damage."

Link stomped his foot. "If I killed you off all those times, I can certainly do this!"

"You've got no fire in your spirit. No wonder Zelda wouldn't kiss you until your body was possessed by someone more appealing."

"Just give me five minutes and I'll…_WHAT!?_"

Ganondorf poked him in the chest. "You're just a lucky little kid, that's what you are. You never belonged out in competition with the grown-ups. You're weak, stupid, and most of all, naïve."

Suddenly the growing ball of energy coalesced around Link, and his voice was hard and cold. "Say…that…again."

Ganondorf leaned in so close to his adversary that drops of spittle struck Link in the face as he carefully enunciated every word. "I _said_…you are weak…stupid…and most of all…_naïve_."

-&-

"Just three bottles? Are you sure?"

Ilia packed the lantern oil in her bag. "We really don't use all that much in the summer…it's wintertime, when there's so little sun, that we use a lot of it."

"Oh, well." The oil seller smiled and nodded at her. "Well, if you ever need any more, just let me know!" He turned his head toward a snorting sound coming from Hyrule field. "Hey, isn't that your friend's horse?"

Ilia's head jerked up, and she saw Epona trotting erratically back and forth, as if unsure where to go. There was no one in the saddle.

She called the horse, and its head jerked up, frightened. Ilia walked slowly toward it, nickering softly. "Do you have any carrots or apples?" she asked the oil seller.

"Sure!" He got up and shuffled off to a cellar door. After rummaging around inside for a few moments, he emerged with a couple of carrots and a few gnarled apples.

Ilia held them high for the horse to see. Epona came eagerly, taking a wide berth around the oil seller and stretching her nose out toward the food.

As the horse crunched the apples noisily, Ilia stroked her nose. "That's a good girl…poor thing, you're all lathered up, what have you been doing? Where is Link?"

Epona nickered softly and nuzzled the girl's hand. Once she was finished eating, Ilia climbed up into the saddle. "You can show me where Link is, can't you, girl? He's not hurt, is he?" She patted Epona's neck. "Go on…take me to him!"

"Good luck!" The oil seller called as Ilia galloped toward Hyrule Field.

As Ilia rode past Hyrule Castle, someone called to her, she nudged Epona closer, and saw that it was Rusl. "Oy! Link!"

Ilia stood in the saddle as she waved to him, so he could see who it was.

"Ilia?" Rusl asked as he ran closer. "What are you doing out here? Where is Link?"

Ilia patted Epona. "I was hoping she would take me to him."

Rusl grasped Epona's halter and started guiding them back toward the castle. "There's something strange going on, it's not safe to be out riding right now."

"But I think she knows where Link is…"

"You're not armed, it's too dangerous for you to be out. The royals are acting oddly, there's some disturbance at the castle. We'll bring Epona into the royal stables to rest, and then I'll take her out to look for Link. She looks exhausted."

Ilia couldn't argue with that, but looked back at the fields longingly, filled with a desperate need to find her friend. When they entered the town, Ilia offered to take Epona to the stables herself.

"All right," Rusl told her, "but stay with her until I come. Don't go into the castle itself, and for Hyrule's sake don't leave the town." He ran off.

Ilia was always welcome at the royal stables, for the servants and nobles there knew her as a friend of Link's. As she got Epona settled, she made a decision.

Keeping to the quieter corners of the castle, Ilia headed toward one of the small back doors, where she had met Link some time back for a visit. No one seemed to pay her too much attention; they were too absorbed in themselves, and even if someone did notice, in normal times there was no reason to ban her from the castle.

As she crept around the outer corridors, the hair on the back of her neck raised each time someone made the oft-repeated statement: "Link has gone mad!"

What was he doing? What could possibly bring anyone to say such things? Was he hurt? Under some kind of enchantment?

Suddenly, loud banging rent the air, and Ilia squealed and hid behind one of many suits of armor. She balled herself up as small as possible, hearing more banging and the shouts of Hylian soldiers. She could feel the vibrations of their armored feet as they ran in a knot past her suit of armor.

The next few minutes ticked by in complete silence. Ilia peeked out from behind the statue, but could not see anything that suggested either danger or safety. A strange feeling pulled at her, or rather two feelings; one, a dark nameless fear, seeking to yank her away from the corridor ahead. The other was warm, beckoning, strangely calming. Trembling, she rose to her feet and timidly crept forward.

She almost tripped over the body of the Hylian soldier, lying just around the corner, and bit down on her lip so hard to keep from screaming that she drew blood. Just as she was about to turn and flee, she caught sight of something in the room ahead, its broken doors yawning open at crazy angles.

The still, sprawled form of a young man, dressed in green.

With that sight came a bizarre feeling of ultimate ambivalence. She could see two people in the room where Link lay. One, dressed in a dark cloak with his naked skull exposed, radiated cold terror. The other, a gold-armored woman, seemed to glow with benevolence. The sight of the woman and Link won out over the skull-headed man, and Ilia crept carefully closer, until she was standing pressed against the doorway.

The woman spoke. "What do you claim, brother?" it asked with three voices at once.

"I have come to claim this world," the sable-garbed man replied with a dead, empty voice, "as it seems _you_ are no longer able to control it."

The golden woman hissed through clenched teeth. "No control? Does the sun not rise and set as it should? Do you see rivers flowing backward, fish swimming in the sky and falling like rain?"

"Spare me your pretense," the man replied, his voice growing even darker. "Your playthings have gained _sentience_."

The golden woman made no reply.

He took a step closer to her. "Your fail-safe, your creation that was supposed to contain these creatures, was realized and manipulated by your puppets. They cut their strings to your precious bauble, and now walk free."

He raised his arms, and Ilia felt a powerful magnetic force surround her and threaten to pull her in toward him. She shut her eyes in terror, but they flew open when the pull suddenly stopped. She looked up and her mouth gaped open as she saw the Triforce floating in the air between the two deities.

Then, with a wave of his hand, the man scattered Hyrule's power into dust.

Ilia screamed with pure terror, waiting for the universe to shatter and to be swallowed whole in a bottomless pit of negation.

Nothing happened.

"What…is this?" The skull-faced man's voice, perturbed and angry, cut the silence like a blade.

There was a hint of amusement in the golden woman's voice. "Did you think we would stand idly by as you destroyed our treasure?"

He whirled around, staring with unseeing eyes. Ilia flinched as his gaze fell upon her, but he paid her no more mind than he might a bug. "I obliterated your golden triangle! This world should be falling apart at the seams! What have you done with it? You will tell me or I shall…"

The golden woman raised her sword. "You will do nothing, brother, except defend yourself if you can."

He laughed harshly. "You bluff. Your little toy must still exist, in another form, but I can feel that it is so far removed from you in your current state that you cannot draw from its power."

She swung her sword, and he stopped it with his bare hand. With his other hand he grasped her throat, and she let out a cry of pain. "You are coming with me," he instructed with a tone of finality, "and you will tell me where you have stored your power!"

They disappeared in the blink of an eye. In the woman's place the Princess Zelda stood for a split second, then her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she fell to the floor.

-&-

"Your Highness, there is a disturbance in the lower levels."

Midna looked up from the papers she was examining as she sat in her throne. "What do you mean, a disturbance?"

"We can hear noises coming from Ganondorf's prison," the Twilight Guard informed her, kneeling. "But there does not seem to be any kind of weakness in the structure."

Midna's eyebrows knitted in puzzlement. "I don't see how that can be possible…I suppose I'll have to check it out myself." She stood and set her papers to one side.

Grumbling, she walked all the way down to the lowest dungeons of her castle. _We finally got that psychopath locked away_, she thought to herself, _and he's already causing problems…_

As she entered the bottom floor, she could hear shouts and bangs, and realized with some surprise that there were two voices embedded in the din. One was definitely Ganondorf's; the other was thinner and higher.

She extended her hand, and a complex pattern of blue lines appeared, tracing a door where none had been before. As the door opened, she shouted, "All right, I don't know what's going on here, but it had better stop right this…"

"_Midna!_"

"Link?!" Midna gasped, then stepped forth and embraced her friend. "Link, how on earth did you get here? _You_ stay put," she shouted suddenly, extending her hand to freeze Ganondorf, who had attempted to sneak out the door.

Link grinned from ear to ear. "Midna, I'm so glad to see you! Please tell me what's going on!"

Still stunned by his presence, Midna stuttered, "I'm afraid I don't know…what are you doing here?"

Link's face clouded. "I'm…I'm not sure. I was going to visit another kingdom, and I met up with this strange person…and that's the last thing I remember…"

"What did he look like?"

Link concentrated. He had only seen the person briefly. "He was dressed all in black…and he didn't have a face, just a skull for a head…"

Midna frowned. "That sounds like Onima, one of my shinigami. But I didn't give him instructions to escort you here…certainly not to Ganondorf's prison…"

Link nodded reluctantly toward his adversary. "I think Ganondorf knows more."

Scowling, Midna made a slight flick of her hand. "I've returned to you the ability to speak," she told him, "but that's all. What have you been doing with Onima?"

"Onima doesn't want to work for you anymore, Princess," Ganondorf told her with a sneer. "He offered me a way out of prison. Unfortunately, I ended up worse off than I started."

"But why did he take you out of there in the first place?"

"Not sure," Ganondorf replied glibly. "But the last thing I remember before he was done playing with me was Zelda summoning the Hylian goddesses."

Taken aback, Midna said, "But she knows that's only allowed as a last resort."

Ganondorf flashed his Cheshire cat smile. "Yes, well…when you're about to be killed, and you think your sweetheart's dead…"

Link moved to attack him again, but Midna threw out her arm to stop him. "I wonder if that was Onima's purpose," she said slowly. "He was not able to find them himself…he must have found a way to frighten Zelda into doing it…"

"Why does this Onima want to pick a fight with the Hylian Goddesses?" Link demanded. "Doesn't he work for you?"

"He does," Midna explained. "But he is not one of the Twili. He is one of the original deities, one of the Children of Izanami."

His voice caustic and mocking, Ganondorf demanded, "Then why is he working under _you_? You're the descendant of exiled Hylians. Technically, he outranks you."

Midna frowned, her face grave. "Izanami assigned him to me, as penance for his past crimes." With a wave of her hand, she freed Ganondorf and beckoned for both of them to follow her. "Come along. Something very serious is unfolding."

"Where are we going?" Link demanded.

"To your world, of course."

"Oh. Well, that's good, then we can…" Suddenly he stopped in his tracks.

Midna turned around. "What is it?"

Link looked up at her, hurt in his eyes. "You…you mean you could come to my world at any time? When you broke the mirror…I thought…"

Midna stood for a moment, then stepped forward and embraced him once more. "I'm sorry," she told him, her voice cracking. "All of those who serve Izanami can pass through the door to Yomi at any time. But I am held by my duty here, to only pass through when absolutely necessary. I figured…I would be seeing you soon enough…"

"You princesses," Link mumbled, the corners of his eyes stinging. "You and your duty…"

Ganondorf rolled his eyes. "If you two lovebirds are finished…can we _please_ move on?"

-&-

As Zelda regained consciousness, she immediately wished she had stayed asleep. Her entire body throbbed with pain, especially her head. Slowly sitting up and pressing her hand to her head, she felt a hand pluck timidly at her sleeve.

"Your Highness?" As her vision cleared she saw a tear-stained face staring down at her. It was Ilia, Link's friend from his home village. "Princess Zelda…are you all right?"

"I…am still alive…which, given the circumstances, is remarkable…" she glanced around her, trying to remember what happened. Near her side, Link lay still on the ground.

Ilia followed her gaze. "Is he…?"

"_Your little friend is dead for good, Zelda. Of course, I will be more than happy to let you join him…"_

"I…" Zelda could not find the words to tell her. "He has been…"

Suddenly Ilia flinched, and Zelda's head jerked up to assess this new threat. Her mouth dropped open in shock, her gaze resting on the three people that were the last in the world she had expected to see.

"Midna!" she exclaimed. "Link! And…Ganondorf?"

"Link? Where?" Ilia demanded, staring all around her, not seeing his spirit run past her to his body. "I only see the blue lady."

"Are you all right, Zelda?" Midna asked.

"_Ow!_" Before she could answer, Link jerked up as if he had fallen on a pin. "You disgusting pile of filth, what did you do to me?!"

Ilia shrank back, eyes wide with terror. "I…I didn't do anything!"

"Not you!" Link pointed an accusing finger to the left of Midna. "Him!"

Ilia stared, first at the empty air and then at Link. "There's…no one there…"

"I didn't do anything," Ganondorf told him with a chuckle. "I told you, the Princess knows how to defend herself."

"Wait a minute." Link's arm dropped and he turned to Midna. "I can hear and see him…but we're not in the Twilight…"

"I saw you both," Zelda said slowly. "But since the Triforce shattered, I haven't had that power…"

"What are you talking about?" Ilia demanded. Suddenly, she screamed, scrambling away from the shuffling corpse of one of the dead Hylian soldiers.

Midna turned to it. "Get out of there."

"The kid asked a question," the dead soldier said with Ganondorf's voice. "I wanted in on the conversation." He turned to Ilia. "I am Ganondorf, bane of Hyrule!" He laughed when she just stood there, uncomprehending. "She doesn't believe me anyway, so what's the harm?"

Before the others could say anything, Ganondorf pointed to the back of his hand. "Now here's something interesting. I could see it on the both of you when we first came in the room."

They stared at him, then their own hands. The mark of the Triforce had appeared on all three of them. "What does it mean?" Link asked Zelda.

"I…have no idea…" she replied.

"I thought you two broke the thing, freed yourselves from its power, and so on. I remember it disappearing from my hand just before I died." Ganondorf walked erratically in a circle. "I need a different body. This one doesn't fit. What happened to my old one? I suppose you burned it."

"Of course we did," Link snapped. "Would you have preferred we left it to the carrion-birds? Or perhaps we could have stuck it, sword and all, in the town square for the pigeons to roost on!"

"Enough," Minda commanded. She turned to Ilia. "Did you see what happened here?"

Timidly, Ilia nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

Link put his hand on Ilia's shoulder. "Midna's our friend. Go ahead."

Trying to keep her voice steady, Ilia began, "I was looking for Link. I found his horse wandering in the fields. I looked for him in the castle…I heard people saying he'd gone mad. Something…was drawing me to this room…and something else tried to push me away…"

"What did you see in the room?" Midna asked.

"I found Link here, I thought he was dead…but I didn't see the Princess. There was a man and a woman…the man wore all black and didn't have a face." She shivered at the memory. "But the woman seemed nice…she had a sword and was dressed in gold armor."

"Did they say or do anything?"

"The man said…he wanted to claim the world, because the woman couldn't control it. Because she…or they…had made someone…I don't know the word…semblent? Sacrament?"

Midna's eyes narrowed. "Sentient?"

"Yes…what does it mean?"

"Superficially? It means self-aware. To explain what it means in context would take all day. Go on."

"Well, the man seemed angry about this, and for some reason he…he tried to break the Triforce. He summoned it somehow, it was whole, and then…" She shivered again, quaking from head to toe and closing her eyes briefly. "He turned it to dust."

The three Vessels of the Triforce stared at each other. Ganondorf said, "If that were true, shouldn't we all be dust by now as well?"

"The man was angry," Ilia went on. "He said that the woman must be hiding it somewhere, in a different form. Then he grabbed her, and…and they disappeared, and Zelda appeared in the woman's place."

They all stood silently. "I think we know even less now than we did before," Link grumbled.

Zelda stared transfixed at the mark on her hand. "I wonder if this means…"

"It does." They all spun around upon hearing a new voice, high but rich and strong. "It means you and it are one and the same. You cut the strings, and stand on your own feet, and control it rather than letting it control you."

Through the shattered doors walked the most beautiful woman any of them had ever seen. She had long, blue-black hair that reached down to the small of her back. The woman wore a resplendent, multi-layered gown, in countless shades of countless colors and bedecked with fine embroidery. She was not Hylian, and neither Link nor Zelda could remember seeing anyone remotely like her before.

Midna fell to her knees. Zelda, Link, and Ilia followed suit, though unsure why. Ganondorf remained standing, and emitted a low whistle, his eyes fixed on the newcomer.

As the woman passed from the shadows into the light of the high, small windows, a shocking transformation took place. Her robes melted to tattered rags, her hair turned tangled and thin, and her perfect face erupted into a hideous mask of old blood and writhing maggots. A rat peeked from the sleeve of her gown, and then retreated. Link could hear Ganondorf retching behind him.

"Midna," the woman spoke. "My children have been quarreling."

Midna bowed her head. "Forgive me…Queen Izanami."


	4. Izanami's Proposal

"What drives you to such extremes, Brother?" the golden woman asked as she shifted into three, standing next to Onima in the large anteroom of his palace.

It was made almost entirely of metal; gold, iron, silver, platinum, and copper, intricate geometric patterns forged and shaped in the walls. There were no windows, and no sunlight; candles that emitted an eerie blue glow lighted the place. No living thing, save for the four Children of Izanami, could be seen.

"We have discussed this before, eons ago," Onima told them. "You have made your world too dangerous for its own good. You are unfit guardians, and I aim to take your place."

Din, dressed in crimson and brown robes with literally flaming red hair, laughed at this suggestion. "You will turn all our lovely creatures into statues of cold metal and stone. How is that an improvement?"

"You are the one most at fault," Onima shouted, thrusting an accusing finger in her face. "You torment your own 'lovely creatures' with war, drought, and famine. You destroy your own sisters' works, so who are you to criticize me?"

"We have explained this to you many times." Nayru, with jet-black hair and dressed in robes of blue and white, explained with a hint of annoyance. "Din's energy is vital to the cycle that keeps our world alive."

"Summer follows Winter, floods follow drought, and in between both of those harvests are made." Farore, with brown hair and robes of green and yellow, spoke softly. "There can be no Birth without Death; what matters most is what happens in between. We know, Brother, that you would spare our creations sorrow, but also never allow them to feel joy."

"Spare me," spat Onima. "You allowed your 'creations' a window into the minds of the gods. If I do not freeze your world, they will destroy it out of their own ambition and ignorance."

"Indeed?" A mischievous smile tugged at Din's lips. "Perhaps we should make a pact, Brother. My sisters and I believe that our world is well cared for in the balance between the Three."

"In fact," Nayru added, "We would go so far as to say that we believe the Three in whom we have stored our power could both maintain our world, and invade yours."

"What say you?" Farore asked. "Our Chosen Ones will fight you. If they are defeated, we will bow to you and give you our lands. But if they win…"

Din's lips spread in a hungry grin. "…We will make sure that you never trouble us again."

-&-

"Do not blame yourself, Midna," Izanami told her. "You cannot be held responsible for my children."

She fixed her steady gaze on each of the others in turn. Ilia buried her head in her hands and whimpered, unable to withstand even the presence of the extraordinary deity.

Izanami walked up to her and waved her hand; Ilia slumped to the ground.

Link jumped to his feet. "What did you do to her?" he demanded. "Is she-"

"Silence," Izanami commanded, her voice chilling his blood. "She merely sleeps. Her heart is not strong enough to take in what I am about to tell you." Her eyes raked him, seeming to look within him as well as over him.

She turned to Midna. "Do these children know Onima's background?."

"No, your Highness."

"Then please…enlighten them."

Midna stood, and addressed them all. "Onima is the brother of Farore, Nayru, and Din. He assisted in the creation of Hyrule…"

"But I've never heard of him," Zelda interrupted. "There's no mention of him anywhere in any of the ancient texts…"

"There wouldn't be," Midna said. "After the lands and its features were created, they had a quarrel over its inhabitants. The three Goddesses wanted people to have free will. Onima challenged them, saying that eventually they would seek ways to rise above even their creators. He believed that the gods should control their every movement.

"As a compromise to their brother, the three Goddesses created the Triforce. The people, they argued, would seek this thing, and if the person was a threat to their order, it would split into three pieces and seek out two others with conflicting personalities.

"But Onima was not satisfied. He complained that it was still too easy for the mortals to understand their situation, and that knowledge could lead to disaster. An impetuous god, he began destroying what he had built out of temper. The Goddesses rallied and drove him out of Hyrule."

Here Izanami spoke up. "He traveled many other worlds for countless years, then returned to me and begged for a purpose. I told him I would grant him his own world, but only after he had repaid his sisters for the damage he had done. He sullenly agreed, and I placed him under Midna's direction."

"In the meantime," Midna went on, "the Goddesses tweaked their creation a little, so that it would stay whole for a while, until the right person came along to split it apart. Then it would start a cycle of destruction and regeneration, much like the seasons or the cycle of life and death. They wanted to know if mere mortals could indeed reach sentience and understand their creation. They watched out of curiosity, while Onima watched out of fear."

Link looked at Ganondorf out of the corner of his eye. "'Until the right person came along'? You mean Ganondorf was _supposed_ to break the Triforce and lay waste to all of Hyrule?!"

Ganondorf chuckled, but a look from Izanami silenced him. "Are you not yet fully sentient?" She asked Link. "You are still thinking in terms of Good and Evil. My children did not create the Biforce. The drought that kills the crops is neither good nor bad. It is simply the result of a set of years with good harvests, mediocre ones, and bad ones, a roll of the dice that came up with a bad number…looking like chance, but there is order in the chaos.

"The flood that drowns the village also lays down new silt for next year's crops. The fire that devours the forest allows new growth. There is no life without death, no heroes without villains…or, at least, desperate circumstances. They define each other."

"But…" Zelda struggled to verbalize what she was thinking. "We were puppets of the Goddesses before, allowing all these cycles to happen without our knowledge. Are you saying we can _control_ them now?"

"No. You do not have the power to spin tornadoes or raise the dead. You are simply aware of them now, while your fellow mortals simply follow as they are led."

"What good does that do us?" Ganondorf grumbled.

She fixed her gaze upon him. "It is you three who will make the choice…whether Farore, Nayru, and Din will regain their world, or whether it will be handed over to Onima." She regarded them all with a frown. "I do not believe you would want to live in a world created by Onima. In it, you would be nothing more than automatons."

"But…why us?" Link asked.

"It is the makeup of your very souls that attracted the Triforce to you," Izanami answered. She turned to Ganondorf. "You, when you left your desert land to seek power, whatever the cost, and managed to pass through the barriers that had blocked others…you broke the whole, retained the Triforce of Power, and started the cycle."

She turned to Zelda. "You, who watched over your subjects with more knowledge and compassion than your predecessors, and went to extraordinary lengths to keep the other pieces out of his hands…You retained the Triforce of Wisdom, and became responsible for the maintenance of the cycle."

To Link, she said, "Many others attempted to stop Ganondorf that day, in your first life. It was you who fought off the attackers of Zelda's servant, Impa, and volunteered to save Hyrule. You retained the Triforce of Courage, and the constant pressure between you and Ganondorf is the force that turns the cycle."

"But then we shattered the Triforce," Link pointed out.

Izanami nodded. "Your growing awareness drove you to cut the strings that had moved you while you lay dormant. This was a source of great joy for the Hylian Goddesses, for they watched you three like parents watch their children grow. But to Onima, this was a disaster…and he decided to take things into his own hands."

Zelda frowned. "And now Onima has kidnapped them…but what can we do?"

Izanami smiled slightly. "Ah…and now at last we come to the point of this entire discussion. The power of Farore, Nayru, and Din is contained within you as the three pieces of the Triforce. You are it, and it is you. And therefore…only the _three_ of you, together, can have any hope of battling Onima on equal ground."

"_Together?_" Link pointed to Ganondorf, incredulous. "Fight together with _him?_"

"I have to admit I'm not keen on the idea myself," Ganondorf huffed.

"What is the price of failure?" Zelda asked softly.

"There are two possibilities. The better one is that Onima will inherit this world, and all of its inhabitants will be little more than chess pieces on a board, only allowed to move when he deems it necessary."

"That's the _better_ one?" Ganondorf demanded. "Dare I ask, what is the other?"

"Oblivion," Izanami answered simply. "He will completely destroy your souls, and you will no longer exist in any form."

The three Vessels and Midna all exchanged anxious glances.

Izanami waved her hand, and three iridescent opal spheres appeared floating in the air before her. "If any one of you chooses not to go forward, Onima will claim this world and you will live as he sees fit. If you fail, you may not exist as all. But all three must choose to go forward if you have any hope of success."

Link stepped forward and grasped the ball on the left; it changed shape and became the Master Sword. "I have fought for the Hyrule I know and love for too many years to stop now."

Zelda stepped forward and grasped the middle ball; she found in her hands a bow and the Light Arrows. "I am, and choose for the rest of time, to be the Princess of Hyrule."

She and Link turned and looked somewhat uncertainly at Ganondorf.

He laughed softly, for several moments. "What's the matter?" he asked. "Do you think I'd keep trying to take over Hyrule if I didn't like it?" Leaving the body of the soldier behind, he reached for the ball and it became the sword he had wielded in his most recent life.

Link stared in disbelief. "You choose to fight on our side?"

Ganondorf sighed, and regarded Link like he might a precocious child. "Listen, boy, I don't like you, and nothing is going to change that. I'm not a good guy, I'm not going to see the error of my ways and so on, and when this is all over we're not going to be friends. But if I have to guard your body rather than slice it, in order to save myself from either life as a mindless drone or oblivion, I will be happy to do so."

Scowling, Link said, "I still don't understand…"

Izanami turned to him. "It is not in your soul to watch life pass by, no matter how much your heart aches for peace. Would you rather have stayed a village boy, never knowing any of the people you met on your lifetimes of travels? You know in your heart that you must allow the pendulum to swing into darkness if it is to re-emerge into the light."

Mutely, Link nodded. He and Zelda exchanged glances, clearly understanding each other's thoughts; as logical as all this sounded, they could not trust Ganondorf to do more than obey his instinct of self-preservation. But they didn't have much choice.

Strangely, Ganondorf seemed more than pleased with the situation. He turned to Midna. "Oh, and one final thing…if I'm part of this essential cycle and so on…apparently I can't be imprisoned in Yomi, can I?"

Midna's expression turned as dark as it had when they first met, but she nodded ever so slightly.

Ganondorf grinned wide. "My soul rejoices at the thought of living again…" His eyes flashed with murderous intent that he had never shown even to Link. "That traitorous shinigami will not be sending _me_ to oblivion."

"Now you have chosen, and only you three can decide what happens to this Land of Hyrule," said Izanami. "I cannot choose sides, for all my children are dear to me. Therefore, I shall merely offer a bit of advice…_stay together_, as much as possible, for the Triforce is strongest when combined."

She turned, and walked out of the light, becoming the beautiful woman once more. "Midna will open the Door to Yomi for you."

In the blink of an eye, she was gone.

"Follow me," Midna instructed them. "Bring Ilia with you. First we have to prepare you for your journey."

-&-

In Zelda's bedroom, Link laid Ilia down at the foot of the bed. Midna motioned the two still-living Vessels toward the bed. "I don't want you to get hurt when you leave your bodies…lay down here."

Link looked skeptical. "Can't we do this the same way we did last time?"

Midna shook her head. "We're not entering Yomi the same way. The Mirror allowed you to keep your mortal body. It will be torn from you if you try to enter the main Door."

Link hurriedly climbed onto the bed, and Zelda followed.

Ganondorf snickered. "So many innuendos come to mind…_ow!_"

He rubbed his smarting hand and glared at Midna as she told him, "Keep that nonsense to yourself, please."

"Wait…I thought we wouldn't feel pain in spirit form," Link remarked.

"Usually, you don't. But the Children of Izanami as well as those who serve her can cause pain to human souls." Her expression turned dark, and slightly fearful. "I expect Onima will use this ability, as well as his skill at illusionary magic, when you confront him. So be very careful."

As the pair lay on the bed, Midna extended her hands to the two of them. "Close your eyes, and just relax…don't resist when I pull you up."

They complied, and Ganondorf watched in amazement as the ghost Link and Zelda emerged from their mortal bodies. "So that's how it works. I could've sworn I saw Onima use a sword."

"Each shinigami has their own method," Midna explained, as Link and Zelda examined their sleeping bodies in consternation.

"What about Ilia?" Link asked.

"I will explain everything to her when she wakes up," Midna assured him. "I will place her in charge of your bodies for when you return."

Link smiled grimly. "Thanks for saying 'when' instead of 'if'".

"Can't you come with us?" Zelda asked.

Shaking her head sadly, Midna replied, "I cannot travel outside of Hyrule. Onima's home lies far from its borders."

She turned and raised her hand, and a blue portal appeared, not unlike those that had been above them when she travelled with Link.

"A final word of advice," Midna addressed them as they stood in front of the portal. "Let your soul be your guide. It will lead you to the correct path every time. There is a strong likelihood Onima will try to lead you astray with false images and false promises."

"Link." Midna opened her hand, and the little splinter of dark magic they had used to change him to wolf form appeared. "Ganondorf and Zelda can use magic spells just by drawing on the Triforce, but you have never had that ability. Take this. It is not much of a replacement, but hopefully it will help you in your quest."

"Oh…and I have one final thing to give you, something I meant to give you last time we parted," she said as he accepted it and turned it over in his hands. He looked up to ask "What?", and found himself locked in her embrace.

After a brief kiss, she let go and sent the three of them through the Door. "Good luck!" she shouted after them.


	5. Courage

"Such a ladies' man," Ganondorf chuckled as they arrived in Yomi. "Why can't I have luck like that?"

Link scowled at him. "You come from a society comprised entirely of women, don't you? It's not like you have any competition…"

"O come!" Ganondorf looked genuinely scandalized. "What do the Hylians teach about our people? It's not like I could just walk up to one and demand that-"

"Enough," Zelda snapped. "Let's focus on the task at hand."

She motioned to the huge mansion in front of them, the house alone sprawling over several acres. Scattered about the grounds were statues of creatures none of them had ever seen, but which did somewhat resemble the animals and races of Hyrule. There was little else they could see; giant blades taller than the three of them combined, sharp side out and spaced only a few inches apart, thin enough to split a hair down the middle, surrounded the entire place.

"I don't suppose he gets many visitors," Link said, arching his neck and peering at the pointed tops, framed against the ever-gray sky. He whirled around just to see Ganondorf put his hands behind his back.

"I figured I could push you through easily enough…you'd just end up in several pieces on the other side," Ganondorf said with a grin.

Link took an exaggerated step to the side, and leaned down to look at the ground. "I could dig under in wolf form, but something tells me it goes down for quite a bit."

Zelda, fingers splayed on the blunt side of one blade, spoke up. "Going over or under won't work…but I think I know something that will."

She pressed her hand slightly on the metal and concentrated. A small white ball of energy formed around her hand. When she pulled away, a little spot of brown rust was left on the blade. It quickly spread, reaching upward and downward with copper-colored tendrils, the metal crumbling as it went; the deterioration of many years' time sped up in seconds.

"Nice trick," Ganondorf grunted appreciatively.

Zelda repeated the spell on ten more blades, until the three of them could pass through without any trouble. As they stepped onto the grass into the estate, the metal statues blinked and shivered in the twilight sun, and came to life. Link drew his sword, quite accustomed to such events.

He stumbled as he was shoved rudely to the side. He turned to glare at Ganondorf, who rubbed his hands together, his face split in a wide grin.

"Now it's _my _turn for some magic," he announced gleefully. "I'm sure you won't mind if I get a little carried away…this _is _for the good of Hyrule, after all…"

Before either of the others could respond, he took a deep breath and released a phenomenal amount of spiritual force. Giant flames scorched the grass, and melted the statues in their tracks, and a series of fireballs whizzed around the estate looking for any victims the initial pyroclastic burst had missed.

"Well, that was brilliant," Link said, his voice a mixture of awe, sarcasm and exasperation. "Nothing says 'here we are' like _an impromptu volcano!_ You idiot, there's no way Onima could have missed that! He must know we're here!"

"Calm down," Ganondorf said, supremely unconcerned. "If he didn't know we were here the second we stepped into Yomi, he wouldn't be much of a shinigami." He flourished his own sword and leaped forward. "There won't be much of him left once I'm through with him!"

Link and Zelda exchanged glances, then sprinted off after him toward the front door of the mansion.

-&-

They walked through the newly shattered doors to see Ganondorf turning in circles in a large rectangular main hallway. "You know, I expected more security," he said, his voice echoing in the empty room.

Link kept a tight grip on his sword as he slowly examined the corners and shadows on the right; Zelda did the same on the left, a small ball of light in her hand. Once they met on the other side, they both looked at Ganondorf, who shrugged.

Link tried the door nearest to him. "It's locked," he said.

"So what?" Ganondorf asked.

"Er…well, I suppose we could just break it down…"

"Such rude guests." The three of them whirled round to see Onima standing in the shattered doorway. "You should try knocking first."

Before any of them could move or speak, a strange, wavering feeling came over all three, the image of Onima shuddering and shifting before them. Suddenly, a wave of fatigue swept over them, and everything went black.

-&-

Link's eyes fluttered open and rested upon the grass were he lay. He picked himself up off the ground, rubbing his head. "What on earth?"

He appeared to be in the Kokiri Forest, or at least a wooded area similar to it. The sky was streaked with red and yellow clouds, the sun having just dipped below the horizon. Crickets chirped around him and the ground where he stood was slightly damp.

"How did I get here?" He racked his brains, trying to remember what had just happened, glancing around him for some clue.

Suddenly he heard a roar to his left, and rolled on the ground just in time to escape the claws of a gigantic bear, its fur as dark as night and teeth that glinted white in the dying sunlight. He nimbly stepped back and to the side, and reached for his sword.

It wasn't there.

Shocked and confused, he spun around in place and slapped himself all over, thinking he might have dropped it nearby. It was nowhere to be found, and he had no other weapons, no tools to use as a substitute.

The bear blinked its beady red eyes and lunged for him again. Link sprinted to the nearest tree and scurried up the trunk like a squirrel. Wrapping himself around a large branch, he peered down at the angry bear – now shaking the tree – and searched the forest floor for his sword.

_Where could I have left it? What was I doing before I ended up-_

His thoughts were abruptly cut off when something struck him hard in the head. Seeing stars, he looked up into the face of a bat-winged bird, a grotesque cross between an owl and a Keese. As he felt a thin thread of warm blood trickle down the side of his head, the creature readied for another strike.

He nearly fell out of the tree trying to get away from the thing, and smacked hard into one of the bottom branches, the bear's mouth just inches from him. Link seized a broken branch that fell onto his back and shoved it, hard, into the bear's mouth, then leaped down from the tree as it pawed furiously at its face.

He sprinted off to the west, toward what he hoped was the village, and ducked just in time to prevent his hair being torn out by the Keese-thing. The bear, too, had taken up the chase even though the branch obscured its teeth and fangs.

He ran for several hundred yards with the two of them at his heels, then suddenly remembered Midna's gift. He reached into his pocket and grasped the little splinter of dark magic; instantly he shifted into wolf form. Putting on a new burst of speed, he bolted off and looked back briefly, expecting them to have fallen far behind.

They were still right behind him.

_What in the world?! If they could run that fast why didn't they do so when-_

A blinding flash and an earth-shattering crash rent the air, and a nearby tree exploded. Set aflame by the lightning strike, it fell forward straight into Link's path. He doubled back, doing a half-flip in the air, and felt his hide tear from the eager claws of his pursuers.

As he fled back the other way, he saw flames licking at the trees and grass out of the corners of his eyes. _How is that possible? I've seen grass fires before, but none of them have been so fast that-_

He screeched to a halt, the hulking frame of a dark knight looming up in front of him. He shifted back to human form and rolled out of the way just as the knight buried its gigantic sword into the ground where he had just been.

Suddenly he realized: Something was trying to prevent him from thinking.

Something was trying to keep him in a constant state of panic, continually relying on instinct. Every time he began to puzzle over the absurdity of his situation, something else happened.

_Stand your ground._

Link skidded to a halt and faced his pursuers. The heat from the fire blasted him, setting off alarm bells in the back of his head, but he noticed that the others were unfazed.

He brought up his hands in a cross-block, his wrist guards facing forward. The dark knight slammed his sword down, cutting into the guards and slicing his flesh.

But he knew that such a blow should have cut them clean off.

As the knight reached back for another swing, Link leaped forward and dealt the knight a kick square in the chest.

He was totally unprepared for what happened next. Enemies, fire, and trees all disappeared in a blast of smoke, and he found himself lying uninjured in an empty plain.

Standing, he looked around. He appeared to be in Hyrule, with the castle directly in front of him and the Gerudo Desert off to his left. But both places were absurdly close to each other and to him. The little bit of ground where he stood felt almost like a stage, empty now with the players long gone.

He shifted back into wolf form and headed for the castle.

-&-

The castle was a scene from the Apocalypse, littered with burning bodies and the scattered remains of buildings. Undead warriors swarmed the place like mice in a grain mill; but not a single one noticed Link, not even when he shifted to human form to call out the names of his companions.

He ran inside the castle itself, then from room to room, calling as he went. The undead warriors paid no attention to him, even when he challenged them and set one on fire. Finally, he heard the ringing of steel on steel and tracked it to one of the libraries.

There he found Zelda backed into a corner, legions of undead shuffling toward her with swords, spears, and knives in their hands. She mowed them down like grain under a scythe but they kept coming in waves, and it was all she could do to stand her ground.  
Link shifted into wolf form and jumped into the fray; but he was soon buried under moaning zombies, who seemed more occupied with hiding him from Zelda than attacking him. He struggled out from underneath, shifted back, and shouted as loud as he could, "Zelda! It's not real, it's one of Onima's illusions!"

"What?" Startled, she paused for a moment and one of the warriors sliced the side of her face. She smashed the offender's head down with her sword and resumed as if she had never heard him.

Link waded through the legions, latching onto one of them. "If this were real, would I be able to do _this?_" He sat on its shoulders, grabbed its sword, and swung in a wide arc, felling several of its companions. Not a single one moved to stop him.

Zelda buried her sword into the chest of one of them, then spun around with a sweeping motion of her arm. As it passed through the tightly knotted group, the entire entourage vaporized and Link fell hard on his rear.

She helped him up. "The illusions must be specific to each person," she informed him.

"I think they were made for the purpose of keeping us continually in fear," he said. "Every time I tried to think about what to do, something else crazy would happen."

She smiled wanly. "Your courage enabled you to break the spell." She glanced around. "Where is the third?"

"Haven't found him yet. Let's go look; we can win some bragging rights if we save his butt. Jump on." He shifted into wolf form and Zelda climbed onto his back.

-&-

As they neared the desert, the little stream they had been following grew larger and larger, until it was a roaring river. "There's not supposed to be a river here," Zelda said more to Link than to herself. He couldn't speak, but he had been wondering what it was doing there as well.

Once they reached the edge of the desert, they noticed a large amount of debris floating in the river, and soon after that came waves of screaming people. Zelda shouted to Link and he leaped upon a nearby floating tree branch. Zelda extended her hand to the Gerudo child flailing in the water, but he seemed neither to hear nor see her.

"So this is an illusion too," she said. "Hurry, Link! Keep following the river!"

Link leaped on top of trees, rooftops, sides of buildings. The river expanded to fill the entire desert. Zelda scanned the horizon, then pointed just off to the left of them.

Struggling along the twisted waves of debris, Link finally saw Ganondorf clutching a large log with a death grip; but every time he tried to climb onto it, it would roll over and threaten to dunk him under the water. Screams of drowning people filled the air, many of them beseeching their leader to save them.

"None of them can swim!" Zelda exclaimed in horror as Link shifted to human form. This didn't surprise him; there wasn't much chance for swimming lessons in the desert. He grabbed a long wooden pole floating in the water and leaned out over the rooftop where they stood, trying to place the end in Ganondorf's reach. "Grab hold!" he yelled.

"Get away from me!" Ganondorf shouted. He grabbed the pole, then cracked Link over the head with it.

Kneeling and clutching his head, Link said to Zelda, "He doesn't remember what we're doing here. You try to get him; he likes _you_."

She snatched up the pole and thrust it forward; Ganondorf made a few wild grabs, then grasped it firmly. But as she began to back up, trying to bring him nearer, the current of the river kept pushing him off to one side. He began to panic, flailing around in the water, which pulled Zelda toward the edge. Link threw his arms around her and leaned back, but as Ganondorf made a desperate grab he pulled her into the water.

Link scrambled to his feet to see Zelda's head disappear under the water, as Ganondorf pulled her down in an attempt to stay afloat himself. With the two of them both underwater, Link could think of nothing else but to jump in.

The water was dank and muddy, yet he could see twin yellow lights moving in front of him. He glanced at the back of his hand; the Triforce glowed brightly even in the turbid water.

_Stay together, as much as possible, for the Triforce is strongest when combined._

Izanami's words rang in his ears. He thrust himself forward, and the dark shapes of the other two came into sight. Acting on a hunch, he reached out and grasped the glowing hands of the other two.

Suddenly they were all lying on the cold floor of Onima's mansion, coughing and spluttering but completely dry.

"Well, that was entertaining," Ganondorf said dryly as he picked himself up off the floor. "I wonder what else Onima has in store for us."


	6. Wisdom

The footsteps of the Chosen Three echoed throughout the mansion as they walked down hallways devoid of furniture or decorations save for the veins of silver, copper, gold and iron interwoven into the walls. Hatch marks in the floors of platinum and brushed steel marched down endless halls, lit by ghostly blue lamps.

"Strange," Link commented as they peered in yet another empty room. "There's not a single living thing in here anywhere."

"Would you rather be constantly battling foes that would wear you down before we even meet Onima?" Ganondorf grumbled.

"Of course not. But it would be nice if there was something to use as a marker…for all I can tell, we've been down this hall before. They all look the same."

Zelda nodded. "For all we know, we could be going in circles…"

Suddenly, the lights went out, and all three drew their weapons. "What on earth?" Zelda exclaimed. The darkness seemed to swallow up the flow of her Light Arrows, so that she could only see her weapon and nothing else.

"Where are you guys?" she heard Link yell, telling her that he couldn't see the arrows at all. "I can't see a thing!" He cursed as he bumped into a wall.

"You dolts, it's just a little dark!" Ganondorf snapped. "Stay still, I'll find you. Keep talking."

"I'm over here," Zelda called out, as his voice seemed to be moving away from her.

"I'm by the wall," Link said, his voice even quieter.

"Stop moving, idiot!" Ganondorf yelled in his direction.

"I'm not, I've been leaning against the wall the whole time!" Link yelled back.

"Then speak up!" Zelda shouted. "Why are you talking so quiet all of a sudden?" She heard Ganondorf's voice but couldn't make out what he was saying. "What?" she yelled as loud as she could. "I can't hear you!"

Seconds ticked by. "Link? Ganondorf? Where are you?" she called out. She shouted their names several times, turning in different directions as she did so. When no one answered, she decided she had better start moving and at least attempt to find some light.

She groped in the dark, one hand against the wall, periodically calling out the others' names. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she saw the tiniest glow of gray light off to her left. Arms spread wide, she carefully felt the ground as she walked, one foot in front of the other. As she came closer, the glow grew brighter, and she could see a stone hallway in front of her.

She walked down the hallway, still calling out for her companions. Then she rounded a corner and drew in her breath.

Zelda had entered a kind of stone patio, which overlooked the mansion's grounds, the grass now regrown and all the statues back in their proper places. On the far side of the patio stood a little girl dressed in a frilly pink dress, her hair done up in pigtails. Just behind her was a small table with a lace tablecloth and an assortment of tea things spread out over it.

She smiled and bobbed a curtsy. "Hello, pretty Princess! Will you play tea party with me?"

"Tea party?" Of all the things Zelda had encountered in her many lifetimes, this was by far the strangest. "What are you doing here, little girl?"

The girl picked up a cup and saucer, and offered it to Zelda. "Playing," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I don't often get friends to play with, though. Will you be my friend? We'll have so much fun!"

Zelda took the proffered tea, but didn't drink it, knowing all too well what happened to people who ate or drank in Yomi. "I'm a little busy…do you know a way out of here?"

The girl took up her own cup and motioned for Zelda to sit down. "I can show you around…but won't you play a little with me? Look, I picked fresh flowers for the party and everything!" She shoved a bouquet into Zelda's nose. It had a sickly sweet scent that prompted a round of coughs. Gasping, she said, "I can't stay long, I need to find my friends…"

"Oh, more friends to play with!" The girl's eyes sparkled. "We'll have a big big party, me and the pretty Princess and her friends!"

Zelda opened her mouth to object, then felt a strange feeling creep over her, like the dull happiness of liquor. The walls of the room seemed to blur slightly, then started to spin, and she sat down in the chair to steady herself.

"Leave it to me, pretty Princess," she heard the girl say. "We'll have so much fun, you won't want to leave!"

-&-

Link picked his way along the wall, long since having given up calling out for the other two. "Blasted illusions," he muttered. "That fool Ganondorf is no help at all. And why didn't Zelda use her arrows? It would be nice to be able to depend on others once in a while. Why do I always have to play the hero?"

"Yes, we're so tired of being the maid," a sinister, nebulous voice hissed from somewhere beneath him. "We shouldn't have to clean up Hyrule every time something goes wrong. Maybe we should just leave it to itself once in a while."

Link gripped the hilt of his sword. "Who's there?" he demanded.

The voice giggled at some hidden joke. "Nobody but you, of course."

Suddenly Link was blinded by the flashes of lights on the walls, real ones, not the soft blue ones he had seen before; but the walls and floor were the same.

He was in a large empty room, and he noted with a little flash of panic that there didn't seem to be any doors. He drew his sword and spun around, looking for the hidden speaker. "Show yourself!"

The voice glowed with amusement. "Haven't you guessed who it is by now?"

Link looked down in consternation. The voice seemed to be coming from his shadow on the floor. "Midna?" he asked, even though he knew it couldn't be her.

The voice chuckled softly, and Link watched in astonishment as his shadow separated itself from him, filled out like a balloon, and stood up to face him. The shadow Link looked exactly like him, but shaded opposite like a photograph negative, and it had red eyes as well as an evil leer. "Nope, your Twilight friend isn't here. It's just you and me…or, rather, just you."

Link gave it a halfhearted swipe with his sword; it dodged swiftly and effortlessly, like a phantom, but Link could hear its solid feet on the floor. "Go away," he told it. "You're just one of Onima's tricks."

"Wrong," the shadow Link said carelessly. "Oh, Onima did give me a form, but the truth is, I'm as real as you are…and always have been."

"I don't have time for riddles," Link snapped. "Get out of my way, or I will _make you_."

The creature laughed a disturbing, sibilant laugh. "Make me, will you? Do you feel the need to cut my throat? Slice my heels? Run through my chest?"

"What? No, just get out of my way…"

"That predatory instinct," the shadow continued, walking in a slow circle around Link. "Every warrior has it, though they don't want to admit it."

"I'm not like that. Go talk to Ganondorf, I'm sure you'll have a lot in common." He tried to brush past the stranger.

The shadow reached out and grabbed his sword arm with an iron grip. As Link tried to pull away, the creature leaned in close to his face. "You have it, and lots of other instincts too, that you don't want to admit to. Thoughts about the lovely ladies in your life, and oh my, wouldn't they all blush if they knew!"

"Get off me!" Link kicked him squarely in the face but he didn't move. "Who _are_ you?"

"My, you're dense." He flashed a toothy grin. "I'm you, of course. Or rather…your dark side."

-&-

Ganondorf stomped through the dark, less worried about keeping together than the other two. The others had managed to pull through the ten thousand scenarios he had created, despite his best efforts, and he doubted they would be done in by lack of a night-light.

Periodically he stopped and listened, but heard nothing, not even the hum of insect wings or the scurrying of mice. He was not about to run around yelling like the others, drawing in who-knows-what toward him.

After three more bends in the hallways, he stopped and listened once more, and was surprised to hear the sound of someone sobbing. The voice sounded female or very young. _Is that Zelda? I thought she had more backbone than that…_

He followed the voice, noting that the hallways were slowly becoming lighter and he could see the outlines of the walls. Finally he came to a door, from which he could hear the voice quite clearly.

He opened the door a crack and peeked inside. The inside of the room was just as bare as everywhere else, and lit with the strange blue lights. He opened the door slightly more, and saw someone slumped in the opposite corner.

It was a little Gerudo girl, dressed in tattered clothes, so thin that she seemed to be little more than skin stretched over bones. Clumps of hair hung limply from the top of her head, and her eyes seemed to protrude from her gaunt face.

Ganondorf walked in, toward the small child. "Little one, what are you doing in a place like this?" he asked, trying to lower his voice into a friendly rumble. "Where is your mother?"

Her head jerked up, startled, and more tears filled her eyes. "Mama's dead," she told him.

He kneeled down next to her. "I'm sorry. How did you get here?"

She wiped her eyes. "We went looking for Papa. He left years ago, and never came back. I'm so hungry…"

Ganondorf's hand went to his pocket to offer her something, then remembered where he was. Was this girl a ghost? "Did Onima guide you here?"

She seemed not to hear his question. "So hungry, I'm so hungry! Papa said he'd find us a new kingdom, a pretty place with lots of food, with magic that would give us everything we needed. But he never came back…" Her body shuddered with fresh sobs.

He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise. Slowly he stood, and began backing away from the girl. "I need to leave. I'll try to find something for you, all right?"

"No, Papa, don't leave!" She screamed and clung to his arm. "Papa, Papa, I'm so hungry! I want something to eat, I haven't eaten in so long! So hungry, hungry, _hungryyyyy_…"

The last word ended in an unearthly drawl, and the child bit down on his arm and greedily licked at the blood that surfaced there. With a shout, he flung the child from his arm, and she flew across the room and into the wall. "You're not my daughter. Who are you?" Ganondorf bellowed.

The room echoed with macabre laughter, as the girl picked herself up from the ground and stared at him, blood running down the corner of her mouth. "You're right," she said, in a harsh, grating voice. "I'm not your daughter. But I knew her, and all the other Gerudo, quite well."

Before Ganondorf's astounded eyes, the girl shed her skin like a snake and a gigantic, segmented, insect-like creature emerged. It was covered with bristles and stood on two legs, its arms ending in long razor-sharp claws. On its head nostrils flared over a small mouth with needle teeth, and sightless eyes rolled back in its head. A gigantic hole opened in its abdomen, framed by more, larger, sharper teeth.

"Ganondorf Dragmire, I have known you for years, and have much to thank you for. I have feasted upon those whom you left to starve when you embarked on your fool's travails, and also upon those who suffered in the wake of your destruction. I am Famine, and as this world no longer has any use for you, I shall devour you as well."

-&-

Zelda reached for the chair and sat down slowly, pressing her hand to her head. She sat for several minutes, waiting for the vertigo to leave her. Suddenly a voice beside her asked, "Are you all right?"

Her eyes flew open and came to rest upon the face of Link, who looked down upon her with concern written all over his features. "Yes…how did you…" She wanted to ask how he had appeared there, but found that she couldn't remember why she had been looking for him.

He offered his hand, and she noticed that he was dressed in clothing of a style usually reserved for Hylian nobility. "Where did you get that?" she asked.

He looked down at himself briefly. "Oh, you mean the new fabric? Remember that outlying country the General visited last month? He brought back some of this and I had the tailors work with it a bit. What do you think? Fit for a King?" he asked with a smile.

"General?" Zelda wasn't sure what question she wanted to ask first, but her mind seemed sluggish, her head stuffed with fluff.

"Feeling better? Care to dance?" he asked.

"Dance?" Zelda looked around her and noticed for the first time that she was in the throne room of Hyrule Castle, happy courtiers moving about the floor arm-in-arm. A string quartet played in the corner, and bright chandeliers cast a cheery light upon them all. More courtiers stood around a large table laid out in a feast, chatting amiably with glasses of wine in their hands. She stared in consternation, trying to remember what she had been doing before this. Link stood before her, waiting, offering his hand and his eyebrows up in a puzzled expression.

"Of course," she said, unable to think of a reason to object.

Link took one hand and brought his arm about her waist, leading her onto the dance floor. The couples parted for them, exchanging smiles and greetings. The quartet began an elegant waltz, and Zelda found herself getting lost in the music and the moment. And yet, something tugged at the back of her mind, warning her that all was not well…

"Hi!" She looked down to see a familiar face, a pigtailed girl in a frilly dress. "Are you having fun?"

"Oh, it's you." Zelda tried to place the girl. "What's your name?"

"It's Maromi. But it doesn't matter, really. Are you enjoying your party?"

"Well, yes…but I…"

"Excuse me, my Queen." someone tapped Zelda on the shoulder. She turned around to see a very tall, heavily-built man in ceremonial military dress bowing to her. "Mind if I cut in?"

Link's face lit up. "Ah, General Dragmire!" he exclaimed. "How goes the exploration of the frontier?"

Ganondorf straightened, and gave Link a benign smile. "It goes well. Being a General is easy, when your country is at peace." He bowed again and offered his hand. "May I?"

Feeling as if someone else were controlling her movements, Zelda took his hand and allowed him to lead her around the floor. Struck by the gentleness of his touch in spite of his size, she said nothing for several moments. Finally Ganondorf broke the silence. "How have things been at home? I've been away for several weeks."

"I…" Zelda struggled to think. "I don't remember…"

"Are you feeling unwell? Here, let me get you something to drink." He escorted her to the banquet on the table and retrieved a chilled wine glass. She accepted it, but halted as she was about to bring it to her lips. "Remembering the bad old days?" Ganondorf asked with a knowing smile. "It's not poisoned, I can tell you that. Want me to test it for you?"

She put the glass down. "No…I just don't think it best for me to be drinking this now…"

His eyebrows nearly flew off his face, and he leaned down next to her, whispering conspiratorially, "Are you and the King expecting an heir?"

She stared. "What?"

Maromi skipped up to the two of them. "You're not dancing!" she scolded them.

"The King?" Link followed Maromi. "Are you two talking about me behind my back?" he joked. He offered his hand to Zelda again. "Are you going to allow me some time to dance with my wife?"

Ganondorf bowed in deference and Link led the dazed Zelda back out onto the dance floor again. She felt her mind growing hazy once more as he held her tighter and she rested her head on his shoulder. Blissful, she began to surrender to the dance and the music…

"_What are you doing?"_

Zelda's eyes flew open and she found herself in total darkness, save for a small beam of light on her and another person. Someone wearing the forgotten tunic of the Sheikah, hair and face hidden under wraps, weapons held at the ready. Herself, in one of her former lives. "What's going on?" Zelda demanded.

_"I should ask you the same thing_," Sheik replied. _"Forgetting your duty and living in a house of lies is not the way of Wisdom."_

Zelda clutched her head in frustration. "What am I supposed to be doing? I can't remember anything…what's wrong with this reality?" Tears filled her eyes. "Why can't I have…what I've always wanted…? Have I been doomed to forever fulfill others' destinies?"

_"You can and always have made your own destiny. Your eyes have been clouded by one not of Hyrule. You must awaken, Zelda, and rescue your companions. They are in mortal danger!"_

"My companions?"

Suddenly her memory returned to her in a blinding flash, and she fell to her knees. Around her the ball came back into focus, and both the King and the General bent down to assist her. "Are you all right?" they both asked at once.

Zelda's vision blurred, and tears splattered on the polished floor. "It's not real," she said out loud, slowly, sadly. "Link is not my husband. Ganondorf is still my enemy."

"No!" Maromi cried out in a pained voice. "This is your world. You belong here! This is your place!"

"No." Zelda slowly rose to her feet, her appearance shifting, her voice becoming slightly lower. "I belong out in the real world, with my companions, the other two of the Chosen Three. The truth is, reality can be painful, but that is the reality I have to face!"

Suddenly the group of courtiers shifted into black shadows, and rushed Zelda, piling on top of her. Maromi stood before them with her arms crossed, her lip pulled out in a pout. "I won't let you leave. I worked so hard to make this perfect world for you!"

The pile of shadows yelped, and with a series of punches and kicks, Sheik burst forth. "Shut your mouth, demon child!" she commanded. "I want no part of your illusion. I'm going to find the other two, and we are going to destroy Onima together!"

The shadow courtiers latched onto her like leeches, but she threw them off, throwing needles and her chain to keep them at bay.

"You'll pay for ruining my perfect world!" Maromi's voice shifted grotesquely and she transformed into a shadow herself, towering over Sheik. "I will eradicate your soul!"

Sheik snatched her bow from its harness on her back, and pulled the string back to her ear. A Light Arrow leaped forth from the darkness. She released the arrow, and it struck like lightning into the heart of the shadow beast.

The shadows dissipated like smoke driven by wind, and Sheik became Zelda once more, alone with her bow in the middle of a small metal room. Off to her left she could hear the shouts of two men. She shouldered her bow and ran to the door.

-&-

"What's the matter?" Dark Link demanded, his wicked leer filling Link's vision. "Don't believe me, do you? Well, let me prove it to you…" He leaned in close and whispered something in Link's ear that made his face blush beet red. Dark Link nearly collapsed with laughter. "Well, now, who else would know that?"

Link brandished his sword. "You're a liar. Onima must have read my mind, or something…"

Dark Link shook his head in pity. "You heroes…you never want to admit that there's a part of you that isn't so heroic, so pure, so noble. Every person has their faults, their vices, their Dark Side." His face split in a wide grin.

Link lunged. The shadow sidestepped him easily, and brought his own sword hilt down hard on Link's wrist, causing him to lose his grip. As Link scrambled to retrieve his sword, Dark Link shook his head. "Most people can keep their other half at bay, most of the time. Some are better at it than others. _You've_ done a smashing good job, but all…that…is…about…to…change." He raised his sword with a fearsome grin. "Once I'm through with you, _I'll _become Link, and _you'll_ be the shadow. Won't that be lovely?" he asked as Link backed away from him, sword up, shield held protectively in front of him. "No inhibitions…nothing to hold me back from what I _really want_…" His voice slowed into a hideous insalubrious drawl.

Link feinted, spun, and lunged, and his eyes widened in horror as he found his sword held back with Dark Link's bare hand. "You haven't got enough murderous intent," he spat in contempt. "Even when you fought Ganondorf, you couldn't bring yourself to give in fully to the bloodlust. But unfortunately for you, the pure instinctual bloodlust, the animal impulse, is what allows one to break through the barriers to victory!" He launched himself at Link with an insane laugh, and brought down his sword. Link cried out in pain as it sliced his arm.

Dark Link chuckled. "That's just a tiny taste of my power! Ah, it's so much easier to take over people who never wanted to acknowledge their Dark Side…their ignorance makes them so much easier to corrupt…"

He lunged again and again, and Link managed to leap out of the way just in time. Link parried his blows, slashed and stabbed again and again, but each time the shadow evaded him like water through a sieve. Link took a moment to catch his breath, shield held at the ready, but Dark Link shattered his defences and sliced his flesh several more times.

Link yelped and tried to run, but there was nowhere to go. He rammed up against walls looking for a door, but it was the same solid metal the whole way around. Dark Link simply watched as his quarry scrambled like a mouse in a snake's cage.

Abruptly Dark Link slammed into him and held him up by the throat against the wall. "You never were close to a match for me," he hissed, and Link cried out as smoky bits of shadow flowed from Dark Link into his wounds. "In a few minutes, it won't matter. I will have control over your body, and then the _real fun_ will begin. Want a preview?"

A series of disturbing images flashed in Link's mind, and he screamed louder than he had from any of the wounds. He screams were drowned out by Dark Link's malicious laughter.

"Let him go!" a powerful voice shouted behind him. Dark Link turned in consternation to see Zelda standing there, her Light Arrow aimed for a spot right between his eyes.

"Well, if it isn't the pretty Princess!" Dark Link exclaimed with relish. Link struggled weakly as he sensed his double's intentions. "You certainly look ravishing tonight…" His eyes rested too long on certain places. "What say you and I finally engage in those wild fantasies that haunt us both at night?"

Zelda's eyes widened for a brief moment, but she quickly regained her composure. "Oh, _grow up,"_ she snapped, and loosed the arrow.

It struck him squarely in the forehead and he emitted a shrieking cry as it skewered him to the wall, then he vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Are you all right?" she asked as she offered her hand to the sputtering and gasping Link on the floor.

He grasped it weakly. "Zelda, I…"

"Whatever that thing was, it doesn't matter. Let's go!" She grasped his hand and he followed her out of the room. Link made a silent prayer of thanks that she had no interest in probing the private corners of his mind.

-&-

The sand-colored creature's bubbling, sinister laugh chilled Ganondorf's blood. He picked himself up off the ground for the fifth time, and held up his sword just in time to block a swipe of Famine's claws.

"Why do you resist?" Famine asked in a deceptively calm voice. "You know that you will meet the same fate as all others who have faced me." With a blow from his fist he threw Ganondorf against the wall. "Thousands and thousands of them, Gerudo and Hylian alike. Your wives and children…all of them died slowly as I devoured them from the inside."

Painfully, Ganondorf rose to his feet and steadied himself against the wall. He gave the creature a lopsided grin. "You just keep giving me _more_ reasons to resist," he said to it. "If I'm not going to led Onima destroy my soul, I'm certainly not going to let vermin like you have it."

Famine slammed his fist down on the floor, barely missing Ganondorf. He chased the warlord around the room, parrying Ganondorf's sword thrusts with a mere flick of his wrists. He landed another punch full onto Ganondorf's stomach.

Stunned, Ganondorf lay on the floor as Famine loomed large over him. "It's painful, isn't it, the knowledge that _you_ are the one who made your people suffer so. So bent on power were you that you failed in your mission to secure the Gerudo's place in this world. Because of you, they all perished."

Famine brought his hand down, his claws piercing Ganondorf's flesh, and the fallen warlord screamed in pain. "Oh, this is nothing, my friend. Now you will truly understand the torment that I unleashed on the others. I will devour you slowly, bite by bite, until only bones remain." The gaping maw in its abdomen yawned wide, saliva dripping from its spearlike teeth as it anticipated its meal.

Out of the blue it withdrew its claws and screamed in pain. Ganondorf felt a rush of movement around him and rolled over on his stomach, lifting his head slowly.

Between him and the monster stood the Princess Zelda and the Hylian Hero, both with their weapons drawn. A Light Arrow sparkled from the creature's head. Zelda fired more arrows in quick succession, and Famine fell to its knees. As its head bowed, Link rushed forward and leaped up, then thrust downward and buried the Master Sword in its brain. Famine gave a final shriek and shattered like glass, its fragments melting into dust as they touched the floor.

The two Hylians turned around, and Zelda offered her hand to Ganondorf. "Are you all right?"

He took it, stood, and brushed himself off, not speaking for several moments. Finally he said, "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine. I had it under control the whole time."


	7. Power

The moment they stepped out of the room, they were swallowed by darkness once more. Zelda attempted to light their way with a bit of magic, but it gave off no more light than a dying ember.

"How are we going to find our way to Onima?" Link asked no one in particular.

Ganondorf stiffened. He could feel a heavy presence off to his left…a very familiar presence. "I can sense his soul's energy," he announced. "Can't you?"

"I can't feel a thing," Link stated. "Which direction is it coming from?"

"I can't feel anything either," Zelda said.

"You can't?" Puzzled, Ganondorf began walking slowly toward the force that seemed to pull him, easily. "I suppose…you weren't around him very long, so you might not be able to recognize it. Here, take my hands and I'll lead you."

He felt Zelda's hand clasp around his, then waited. After a few moments he started waving his other hand around. "Come on, I don't have all day. Unless you want to stumble along by yourself."

"Yes, Mother," Link muttered, then performed a silent dance of agony as Ganondorf clamped down a little too hard.

Pulling like a hound after a hare, Ganondorf led the two of them quickly down the twisting hallways. "Slow down!" Link yelled.

"What's wrong? Can't keep up?"

"How do you know you're not going right into a pit or something? I know you can't see where you're going! There are more weird things in here than just Onima, in case you haven't noticed!"

Ganondorf snorted, but slowed down just a little. Being rescued twice by his sworn enemies was just a little too embarrassing, and he was eager to redeem himself by using skills the other two did not have.

After a few more turns, he slowed to a cautious walk, sensing that Onima was now very close by. His limbs began to tremble with excitement. As they rounded another corner, the hallway slowly grew lighter from the strange blue lights. There was only one door at the end of the hall.

"This is it," Ganondorf said more to himself than the others. "The final confrontation…just the three of us versus one of the gods. Are you two ready?"

"Yes," said Link.

"No," said Zelda.

They both stared at her.

She took Link's hand. "What?" Ganondorf demanded. Zelda cleared her throat and motioned for him to turn around.

"Oh." Rolling his eyes to the ceiling, he turned his back and counted to sixty. Then he turned back around and flicked them both on the ear, ignoring their irritated looks. "Enough kissyface. Battle time."

The Chosen Three took a collective breath and strode to the door; Ganondorf turned the handle and they stepped inside.

They had entered a gigantic room, the size of a ballroom with a railing near the door, an enormous open space stretching out some ten feet below them. On the other side of the room, standing between two blue torches, stood Onima.

Link hesitated. In his dozens of past lives he had entered countless dungeons, in which its guardians often hid themselves until a strategic moment. The moment he stepped inside, the ceiling would drop on his head, projectiles would fly from the walls, or the floor itself would swallow him up. He had no intention of moving forward until he had an idea what the shinigami could do.

Ganondorf, however, had no such experiences. "_Onima!!_" After bellowing his one-word challenge, he leaped over the railing to the floor below, charging toward his target, ignoring Link's yells for him to return.

_Finally, finally I've reached the blasted shinigami. First I'm going to kill him. Then I'm going to bring him back to life and torture him. Then I'll kill him again!_

He grinned wide as he came nearer and nearer to his quarry, who stood there, motionless. When he had gotten maybe two-thirds of the way there he heard Link and Zelda hit the floor running after him.

Abruptly the floor beneath him glowed bright blue. He had one moment to contemplate this, and in the next his muscles seized up in incomprehensible pain. He bawled in agony and heard behind him both Link's cry of pain and Zelda's high scream. He fell to his knees, unendurable pain slicing through his body, threatening to tear him apart.

"Our Mother gave you fair warning," Onima said calmly, expressionlessly to the writhing intruders. "She said that I could completely destroy your souls. And that is what this energy does…it pulls your soul's substance apart, molecule by molecule."

Through the sharp sparks and throbbing, Ganondorf kept his eyes on Onima. He gritted his teeth and lifted his right leg. The effort increased tenfold the already intolerable anguish. He cried out and crumpled back down.

_Blast it all…I don't have enough spiritual force to get to him…I need…more…_

With a sudden inspiration, he turned back, Onima's laughter echoing in his ears. "You'll find that way easier, my friend, but it will all be the same in the end."

After a massive amount of pure will, he reached Link and Zelda, both prostrate on the ground. Plucking up both of them by their collars, he said, "On your feet, Hero. You too, Princess."

Link raised his head weakly. "Ganondorf…you came back for us…?

"Of course I did, idiot. You heard Izanami Maggot-Face. We do this together, or we don't do it at all. Now start moving, I don't have enough strength to carry your dead weight around."

Both Link and Zelda struggled to move forward, but there was little they could do. Ganondorf leaned forward and half-dragged, half-pulled the other two, inching closer to Onima.

"Ganondorf," Onima spoke softly. "Why do you assist your enemies? They will only seek to destroy you once this is finished. It is written in their destiny, as it is written in yours to destroy them." Onima's normally dead voice suddenly dripped with honey, beckoning, becoming strangely musical and seductive. "Why don't you choose me over the Hylian Goddesses? I can grant you true power, greater than the power of the Triforce. You can shape the people of our new world to your every whim. They will have no choice but to obey!"

Ganondorf bowed his head, the words pulling at his ears like a sweet symphony. He heard Zelda's soft sob beside him, and knew that the other two were giving up, expecting him to abandon them. His heart trembled with excitement at having his two longtime enemies completely helpless next to him.

_Sweet words, my friend_, Ganondorf thought to himself with a smile, _but if you think I believe any of that, you must be a bigger fool than I thought._

"A lovely proposal," Ganondorf said out loud between gasps of pain. "Unfortunately, you've already demonstrated that you can't be trusted. But there's a bigger reason why I'm turning you down." He felt the other two strengthen slightly as hope began to return.

"Onima, you call this power, but it is nothing more than the power a little girl has over her dolls. Pulling the strings of puppets, what good is that? The _real_ measure of power," he said with a wicked grin, "is the measure of your resistance _to the force that moves against you_. Any fool can claim power over lifeless toys. True power comes from conquering your mightiest adversaries!"

He leaned down to the young man at his side. "Link." The Hylian Hero looked up, startled, to hear Ganondorf address him by name. "Do you know why I chose the wild boar as my symbol?"

Mutely, Link shook his head.

"When you hunt boar, why do you use a special spear?"

Link struggled to think as the energy threatened to tear apart his very soul. "Because…a wild boar…will continue to charge even if the spear runs through him. A boar spear…has a blade at right angles to the main one…so that it cannot pierce itself through the handle and attack the hunter."

"Yes." Ganondorf fixed his eyes on Onima with unbridled anticipation. "The wild boar is a fierce and majestic animal. It does not stop fighting until life leaves its body. It always seeks to destroy that which has wounded it."

He tugged the tunics of the other two. "Listen carefully. I'm going to bend down and I want you to climb onto my back. Once there, you must lend me your spiritual force!"

"Why?" Zelda demanded.

"Just do it!"

The two scrambled onto his back, relieved to find that some of the pain ebbed away as Ganondorf provided a shield between them and the floor. They clasped hands and grabbed hold of the top of his cape.

"Now, lend me your soul's power!" he ordered, and the two complied. Stiff bristles sprouted from his shoulders. The pair felt themselves rising up, and the form of the man below them blurred and shifted. With a mighty roar, Ganon emerged.

Link and Zelda held on tightly to the great boar as he struggled against the current, pulling his monstrous form closer and closer to the end of the room. He snorted and snarled, red eyes fixed on his goal, all else unimportant and forgotten.

Onima stepped back and drew a sword, its blade dancing with the same energy that filled the room. "It makes no difference what form you take," he told the great-tusked creature. "I still have the power to stamp out your soul!"

He leaped into the air and brought down his sword. As if by instinct, all three at once let forth a great burst of energy. As the soul-stealing sword came within a hair's breadth of the dark beast's head, it halted. The glowing form of the Triforce appeared between it and Ganon, and Onima's trembling hands were forced back.

"What is this?!" he demanded in a high shriek, just before his sword was ripped from his hands and clattered to the ground behind him. "What is this power?!"

Ganondorf looked down and saw that he was back in human form. He felt a hand touch his shoulder, and suddenly a wonderful feeling of ecstasy flowed through him. He looked up to see the face of a red-robed woman with flaming hair, who smiled down at him. Beside Link stood a woman in green, and next to Zelda was one in blue.

"Well done, my children," they said, their voices filling the room.


	8. Wrath of the Goddesses

"Sisters," Onima addressed them, malice poisoning his voice but also with a hint of fear.

"I believe this is the part where we say, 'we win'," Din told him with a wicked grin.

Onima sneered at them and turned to the three mortals beside them. "You fools. This is what you want to do with your existence? To forever endure pain and never achieve what you wish, always yielding when the pendulum swings back to the other end?"

"It is not all pain," Zelda said. "There is also joy, and love."

"If I had not lived a thousand lives, I would not have known the millions of people I have encountered, and whom have enriched my soul," said Link.

"It helps to have a bit of humor," Ganondorf cut in dryly.

"Now, Brother," Nayru stepped forward. "The balance of the Three has been proven. They have not only held together, but managed to pass through all the obstacles you have thrown in your path. Our creation, the Triforce, is more powerful than even your strongest weapon."

Farore nodded. "You remember our pact, do you not?"

Onima began backing up. "What do you intend to do, Sisters?" he asked in a trembling voice. "You cannot kill me Our Mother would not stand for it."

"We never said kill." Smiling seductively, Din turned to Ganondorf. "You children have done so well, we're going to give you a real treat." She placed her hand back on his shoulder and he felt a rush of adrenaline. "How would you like to take a peek inside the minds of the gods?"

Before any of them could answer, the forms of the goddesses shivered, became translucent, and entered the bodies of the Chosen Three. Ganondorf felt himself being carried away on a mighty current, lost in an infinite sea. He struggled to keep his mind intact as it threatened to meld with the much larger one all around it.

He opened his eyes, and found himself standing on nothing, high above Onima's mansion. It was just a tiny pebble in a mammoth collection of worlds, which stretched out to infinity. Through the goddess' eyes he could see Hyrule, both and shadow and in light, small and familiar below him. The infiniteness seemed to shift and wave before him, with time having no meaning, trillions of lives being born, dying, born again.

He could sense the other two next to him. They slowly descended to the grass outside Onima's mansion, and he saw Link step forward, hand upraised.

"Winds of the Four Corners," Link said with Farore's voice in perfect symphony with his own, "Come together and spin down to the ground!"

Massive dark clouds formed above them, and began to rotate just above the mansion. As it spun faster and faster, the cloud began reaching down toward the ground in a coil, until a ropelike tornado touched down and kicked up a cloud of dirt. Quickly it expanded into a massive dark wedge, boulders and trees whirling around it. The tornado smashed into Onima's mansion, lifting the stone as if it were wheat chaff and hurtling it up into the sky.

The tornado weakened, twisting back into a rope and then disappeared altogether, the debris clattering down to the grass with a deafening roar. Ganondorf felt a strange sense of mad glee, as Din's eager desire melded with his own.

"Fire of the Earth's Heart," he and Din commanded, "Rise up like spurting blood, and coat the ground in your flame!"

Massive cracks split the ground, and magma from deep within burst through the shattered earth, hurtling burning rocks and ash into the air. With a wave of his hand Ganondorf motioned the lava toward the ruined mansion, coating it in a fiery tomb of molten rock.

"Water of the Endless Seas," said Nayru / Zelda. "Soothe the Earth, and seal the power within."

The clouds burst open and a torrential flood doused everything. Hailstones the size of houses fell upon the deep red lava. A giant cloud of steam rose, hissing, as the lava cooled rapidly into a shiny, impenetrable coat of obsidian.

"Minerals of the Earth, form crystals!" Din / Ganondorf ordered.

"Seeds of Life, coat the ground!" Link / Farore commanded.

"Formless Time, shift forward!" Nayru / Zelda stated.

In moments, green trees, grasses, and flowers shot up from the ground and covered the obsidian tomb in a carpet of life. Then, suddenly, the massive power of the goddesses stopped, and the great new land folded open like a butterfly emerged from the cocoon.

Ganondorf felt Din release him and he fell to his knees, mortal once more. Link and Zelda looked ever so slightly shaken up. "That was…so beautiful…" Ganondorf said softly, tears running from his eyes.

Din laughed. "I'm glad you think so, because it's time for you to go back to the Hylian part of Yomi."

He snapped out of it. "What?!"

Nayru smiled. "There is no need to worry. You will not be imprisoned. But you need to wait for the other two to live out their lives before the cycle can start again." She turned to Link and Zelda. "My children, you have worked so hard, it is now time for you to take a well-deserved break."

"_I_ don't need a break," said Ganondorf, but nobody paid attention to him.

-&-

"You should eat something," Midna said to Ilia, who had not moved from the bedside. "You should also get some sleep. There is no way to know how long they will be fighting Onima."

"I'm not hungry, and I'm not tired." Ilia continued to stare at Link. "Midna…he's lived so many lives, do you think he ever forgets those he met?"

Midna sighed. "It depends on how he chooses to be reborn, I guess. Since the three of them accepted the Goddess' pact, if they manage to return, they can choose their circumstances in the next phase of their role as the Vessels of the Triforce."

Ilia sighed, and laid her head down on the bed. "He was far beyond me from the beginning, wasn't he?"

Midna smiled a bitter smile. "Yes, I suppose he's beyond both of us. Those three have their destinies interwoven now…but that doesn't mean we won't ever see them again."

Ilia raised her head. "I know you will see them again…you run Hyrule's part of Yomi. But I don't know if I ever will…"

Midna put her hand on her shoulder. "Whenever you enter Yomi, you remember all of your past lives and all of the people you knew. It's when you're reborn again that you forget. But," and here she smiled, "I'm sure I can…arrange things…so that you meet again."

Tears filled Ilia's eyes. "Would you…?"

Midna shrugged. "Why not? Can't say I blame you…after all, what's not to like?"

Suddenly they felt the air around them press down, as if trying to make room for something enormous. Just as suddenly it ended, and there were six more people in the room.

"Oh!" Ilia exclaimed. "I can see them…all three of them! And those are…" Her face blanched upon recognizing the Goddesses.

"You made it!" Midna exclaimed.

Link and Zelda scrambled to the bed, re-entering their bodies. Link sat up and embraced both Midna and Ilia. "Of course we made it," he said with a grin. "Keeping Hyrule running is our job, isn't it?"

"In thanks, we will give you many long years of peace," Nayru said to them. "Please consider this a reward for the many years you have suffered to keep our beloved creation intact."

"What about me?" Ganondorf demanded.

Din laughed. "Seeing through the eyes of the gods not enough for you? Don't worry…we'll have some fun later on. For now, though, you have to return with Midna."

Both he and Midna made a face. "Lovely," they muttered in unison.

**Stay tuned for the final chapter!**


	9. Epilogue

The scent of fallen leaves hung heavy in the air, as the cool breezes of autumn swept through the castle town. The annual harvest festival was in full swing, and a bumper crop had produced pumpkins the size of pigs as well as enough grain to feed the entire town for three winters worth of snowstorms. Children wove between booths offering fresh buttered corn, cider, and the chance to take home a little prize to that special someone. Hawkers from the far corners of the country bartered with their customers and called out their wares, inviting everyone to see what surely was the best deal in Hyrule.

But a pall had been cast over the prosperity and festivities, and old people who had seen darker times now nearly out of memory spoke of troubles to come. Many looked anxiously up at the castle gates, praying they would not see the inevitable black banners.

The Queen of Hyrule was dying.

She had been ill for several months, but recently the Queen Zelda's health had taken a turn for the worse. She lay on her deathbed, long white hair spread neatly around her shoulders, and looked with failing eyes upon her two grown sons and daughter, the eldest with his wife and small son. The children were loath to leave their mother alone, ever since two years ago, when the Queen's grandson claimed a strange blue lady had entered the ailing King's bedchamber and given him a kiss of death.

The Queen turned to her eldest, a thin man with soft features and a calm demeanor. "Faroi, it is my wish that you take my place upon the throne once I depart this world. You have shown yourself to be a fair and honest person, and I have no doubt that you will lead Hyrule wisely and well."

Faroi nodded solemly, his young wife squeezing his hand.

"Rinku," she said to her second son, who was the spitting image of Link, right down to the piercing blue eyes, "You have retained your father's gift for fighting and adventure. Doubtless you have learned many things in your wanderings over the lands. I leave it up to you to pass on the skills and knowledge of the Hero."

"I will, Mother," Rinku assured her, his voice trembling but full of resolve.

The Queen turned to her only daughter, a wide-eyed girl with long blonde hair. "Saia, you have been blessed with the Sages' second sight. I leave you with the responsibility of warning your brothers of dark times ahead, which will surely come in your lifetime…as you yourself have seen."

Saia wiped her eyes, speaking softly and gravely. "Of course."

Zelda extended her hand to her grandson Gera, small for his age but with a shock of blonde hair and a strong spirit. He took it, sniffing and wiping his tearing eyes. "Little one, always remember that life holds joy as well as sadness. Even in the darkest of times, light will shine through."

He tugged at her hand. "I will, Grandma."

Zelda nodded at them all. "I wish to try to sleep. Please leave my chambers for now."

They all exchanged anxious glancesr, none of them wanting to leave the Queen alone.

She gestured fretfully toward the door. "Please, leave me. I have not slept well in days."

Reluctantly, they left the room.

Zelda dozed off and slept fitfully, often waking up to adjust her bedcovers or reach for a glass of water on the table by the bed. Finally, she hovered in a light doze, the orange light of the setting sun filtering in through the window.

A gruff voice jarred her back into wakefulness. "By the gods, you've aged terribly."

Zelda looked up to see the semitransparent face of Ganondorf frowning down at her. She smiled wanly. "What a thing to say to a lady on her deathbed."

"Yeah? Here's another. Hurry up and die." His face constricted in frustration. "Do you have any idea what it's like to continually say you're going to die of boredom, only to remember that you're already dead?"

"That bad, was it?"

Ganondorf shrugged and seated himself on a nearby chair. "I'm not sure what was worse, the first years being constantly shadowed by Midna, or the last two when she was preoccupied with Link and wouldn't let me fight with him. I'd been waiting for him to drop dead so I could have something to do, but she hogged him the whole time." He gave Zelda a wicked grin. "She fancies him, you know that, right?"

The room was filled with a blue light and Link's semitransparent ghost appeared. "Putting ideas in Zelda's head, are we?" He crossed the room to her bedside.

"Yes, yes, you love all your friends in different ways," Ganondorf grunted, leaning his chin on his fist. "I hate you both. Can we go now?"

"We have to wait for Midna to guide Zelda back."

Ganondorf rolled his eyes. "I don't know how you can stand that woman, she's such a nag. 'Ganondorf, stop scaring the children. Ganondorf, don't touch that. Ganondorf, if you break this, I'm going to throw you into a nightmare world from which there is no waking.'"

Zelda laughed, then coughed.

The blue light appeared again, and Midna stepped through. She smiled in greeting to Zelda. "It's time to restart the cycle," she said. "Are you ready?"

Zelda nodded. "I am."

"Take my hand."

Zelda raised her shaking arm and grasped Midna's hand. Midna stepped back, and pulled Zelda's soul from its vessel. The body of the late Queen fell back on the pillow, expelling its last breath. Zelda looked back at the lifeless shell. "I _did _age terribly, didn't I?"

Link put his arm around her. "Are you ready to go? Have you finished everything here? I saw you talking to the children, I think you made good choices…not to mention a great farewell speech."

"Yes, yes, one life ends and another begins." Ganondorf looked eagerly out the window. "Good old boring Hyrule. Past due for a little shakeup, don't you think?"

Zelda walked to the window and looked wistfully outside. "Midna…could I talk a last look outside…just for a few minutes?"

Ganondorf groaned, but Midna nodded "I'll pick you up when you're finished," she said, and disappeared through the blue light.

The three ghosts drifted through the walls down into the courtyard, unnoticed by the celebrating people; Ganondorf snorted indignantly as a small Goron ran right through him. Zelda watched with an imperceptible expression, then turned to Link. "Do you remember, in the Tapestry Room, we tried to break this cycle?"

He nodded. "Having second thoughts?"

"No." Shaking her head, she said, "It's heartrending to watch people be born and die, over and over again, to make friends and then lose them again. But…I want to keep my memories, because I will take the ones which cause me pain if that is the trade-off to keep the ones that bring me joy."

Link sighed, his gaze resting over the landscape beyond the castle walls. "Yes…I was thinking that this was the best life that I lived…because I was aware of who I was, where I had been. It's a blessing, not a curse…now that I can control my memories, and choose how much to remember in the next life. I feel lucky to have been chosen as a Vessel of the Triforce."

Yawning, Ganondorf said, "I just like being immortal. If I can't take over Hyrule in one life, I'll try in the next. Nice to know the universe depends on me to break stuff for its own good."

Link and Zelda both laughed. "You're going to ride that horse into the ground, aren't you?" Link asked.

"Absolutely. Din told me that I could have some real fun in the next life, so she'd better own up to that."

More laughter. "And what will you do if Din doesn't deliver what she promised?" Zelda asked.

He shrugged. "Well, we defeated one god, but I don't think I could count on your help for this one."

Before they could speak, a mournful cry spread like dense fog over the town courtyard. They looked up to see black banners unfurling over the castle walls.

"I think that's our cue to go." Midna appeared suddenly beside them. "A ghost should only wander so long."

They turned away from the castle and the growing knot of mourning people. "On to the next life," said Ganonodorf. "I've got one hundred and seventy-four scenarios to choose from."

Link stared at him. "That many?"

Ganondorf regarded him gravely. "I've had a long time to consider this."

With the crowd turned away from them, Midna extended her hand and a bright blue light blossomed from her palm. It spread in segments, glowing vividly. Without looking back, Midna and the Chosen Three entered the Door to Yomi.

**Well, that's the end of the story. Not bad considering it started out as a ZeLink romance and I had to come up with the idea of the cyclical Triforce to get Ganondorf to cooperate with the others.**

**I'd like to continue the concept of the Chosen Three, since it seems to fit pretty well as an explanation in regards to the series. Now I just have to think of some new adventures...**


End file.
